On This Day /

Important events in history
on February 26 th

Events

  1. 2021

    1. A total of 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 are kidnapped by bandits in the Zamfara kidnapping in Zamfara State, Nigeria.

      1. 2021 kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria

        Zamfara kidnapping

        The Zamfara kidnapping was the abduction of 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 during a raid by armed bandits on 26 February 2021. The kidnapping occurred at the Government Girls Science Secondary School, a boarding school in Jangebe, in Zamfara State, Nigeria. All hostages were released by the bandits on 2 March 2021, though claims vary as to the negotiation methods used by the Nigerian government in order to facilitate their release.

      2. State of Nigeria

        Zamfara State

        Zamfara is a state in northwestern Nigeria. The capital of Zamfara state is Gusau and its current Governor is Bello Matawalle. Until 1996, the area was part of Sokoto State.

  2. 2019

    1. Indian Air Force fighter-jets targeted Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camps in Balakot.

      1. Aerial service branch of the Indian Armed Forces

        Indian Air Force

        The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflict. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire which honoured India's aviation service during World War II with the prefix Royal. After India gained independence from United Kingdom in 1947, the name Royal Indian Air Force was kept and served in the name of Dominion of India. With the government's transition to a Republic in 1950, the prefix Royal was removed.

      2. Airstrike conducted by the Indian Air Force

        2019 Balakot airstrike

        The 2019 Balakot airstrike was a bombing raid conducted by Indian warplanes on February 26, 2019, in Balakot, Pakistan against an alleged terrorist training camp. Open source satellites imagery has revealed that no targets of consequence were hit. The following day, Pakistan shot down an Indian warplane and took its pilot prisoner. Indian anti-aircraft fire downed an Indian helicopter killing six or seven airmen on board, their deaths receiving perfunctory coverage by Indian media. India claimed that a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet was downed, but that claim has been shown to be false. The airstrike was used by India's ruling party to bolster its patriotic appeal in the general elections of April 2019.

      3. Islamic Jihadist organisation

        Jaish-e-Mohammed

        Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistan-based Deobandi Jihadist militant group active in Kashmir which is widely considered as a terrorist group. The group's primary motive is to separate Kashmir from India and merge it into Pakistan.

      4. Facility established to train individuals in methods and tactics of terrorism

        Terrorist training camp

        A terrorist training camp is a facility established to train individuals in the ways of terrorism. By teaching them the methods and tactics of terrorism, those conducting such facilities aim to create an "army" of individuals who will do their bidding. They are often located in, but not confined to, regions where it is intended that acts of terrorism will be carried out, or in traditional areas of extremism, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria and Somalia. Wide-open spaces such as parks and wilderness areas are common sites for these camps.

      5. Place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

        Balakot

        Balakot is a town in Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The town was destroyed during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, but was later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan and Saudi Public Assistance for Pakistan Earthquake Victims (SPAPEV), a Saudi relief organisation. Balakot also serves as a hub for tourists visiting Northern Areas

  3. 2014

    1. Former editor-in-chief of Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao Kevin Lau was stabbed, prompting concerns and protests about media freedom.

      1. Newspaper from Hong Kong

        Ming Pao

        Ming Pao is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and collects local advertisements. Currently, of the overseas editions, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming Pao Toronto and Ming Pao Vancouver. In a 2019 survey from the Chinese University of Hong Kong sampling 1079 local households, Ming Pao was listed as the second most credible paid newspaper in Hong Kong.

      2. 2014 stabbing attack in Hong Kong

        Knife attack on Kevin Lau

        Kevin Lau , former editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong daily newspaper Ming Pao, was attacked in the morning of 26 February 2014 as he was getting out of his car in Lei King Wan, Hong Kong by two men who were waiting for him. Lau suffered stab wounds to his back and legs. He was rushed to a hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. The police and most commentators agree that it was a triad-style attack aimed at maiming without killing.

  4. 2013

    1. A hot air balloon crashed near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people in the deadliest ballooning disaster in history.

      1. Hot air balloon crash in Egypt

        2013 Luxor hot air balloon crash

        On 26 February 2013, a hot air balloon crashed near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 out of the 21 people on board. A fire developed in the basket due to a leak in the balloon's gas fuel system, causing the balloon to deflate mid-air and crash to the ground.

      2. City in southern Egypt

        Luxor

        Luxor is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes.

    2. A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.

      1. Lighter-than-air aircraft

        Hot air balloon

        A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket, which carries passengers and a source of heat, in most cases an open flame caused by burning liquid propane. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant, since it has a lower density than the colder air outside the envelope. As with all aircraft, hot air balloons cannot fly beyond the atmosphere. The envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom, since the air inside the envelope is at about the same pressure as the surrounding air. In modern sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric, and the inlet of the balloon is made from a fire-resistant material such as Nomex. Modern balloons have been made in many shapes, such as rocket ships and the shapes of various commercial products, though the traditional shape is used for most non-commercial and many commercial applications.

      2. Hot air balloon crash in Egypt

        2013 Luxor hot air balloon crash

        On 26 February 2013, a hot air balloon crashed near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 out of the 21 people on board. A fire developed in the basket due to a leak in the balloon's gas fuel system, causing the balloon to deflate mid-air and crash to the ground.

  5. 2012

    1. African-American teenager Trayvon Martin was killed by neighborhood-watch coordinator George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, prompting a nationwide controversy.

      1. American teenager killed in a shooting (1995–2012)

        Trayvon Martin

        Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic American. Martin had accompanied his father to visit his father's fiancée at her townhouse at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford. On the evening of February 26, Martin was walking back to the fiancée's house from a nearby convenience store. Zimmerman, a member of the community watch, saw Martin and reported him to the Sanford Police as suspicious. Several minutes later, an altercation happened and Zimmerman fatally shot Martin in the chest.

      2. 2012 killing of teenager in Sanford, Florida

        Killing of Trayvon Martin

        On the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American boy. Zimmerman, a 28-year-old man of mixed race, was the neighborhood watch coordinator for his gated community where Martin was visiting his relatives at the time of the shooting. Zimmerman shot Martin, who was unarmed, during a physical altercation between the two. Zimmerman, injured during the encounter, told police he shot Martin in self-defense.

      3. Organized group of civilians dedicated to crime prevention

        Neighborhood watch

        A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch, also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood.

      4. American neighborhood watch coordinator who shot and killed Trayvon Martin

        George Zimmerman

        George Michael Zimmerman is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black boy, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in Florida v. George Zimmerman. After his acquittal, Zimmerman was the target of a shooting. The perpetrator was convicted of attempted murder.

      5. City in Florida, United States

        Sanford, Florida

        Sanford is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 61,051.

    2. A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.

      1. 2012 rail transport disaster in Burlington, Ontario, Canada

        2012 Burlington Via derailment

        The Burlington VIA train derailment was a derailment that occurred on February 26, 2012, in the Aldershot neighborhood of Burlington, Ontario, Canada, resulting in deaths of the 3 engineers in the locomotive and 46 injuries. There were 75 passengers and four crew members on board at the time of the accident. The derailment occurred in an industrial area east of Aldershot GO Station. The official report into the accident was released on June 10, 2013, by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) indicating that the crew misinterpreted the signal causing them to believe that they were authorized to proceed at track speed, when in fact they were authorized only for slow speed—a maximum of 15 mph (24 km/h)—in order to switch tracks.

      2. City in Ontario, Canada

        Burlington, Ontario

        Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton metropolitan census area.

    3. Seventeen-year-old African-American student Trayvon Martin is shot to death by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in an altercation in Sanford, Florida.

      1. American teenager killed in a shooting (1995–2012)

        Trayvon Martin

        Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic American. Martin had accompanied his father to visit his father's fiancée at her townhouse at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford. On the evening of February 26, Martin was walking back to the fiancée's house from a nearby convenience store. Zimmerman, a member of the community watch, saw Martin and reported him to the Sanford Police as suspicious. Several minutes later, an altercation happened and Zimmerman fatally shot Martin in the chest.

      2. 2012 killing of teenager in Sanford, Florida

        Killing of Trayvon Martin

        On the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American boy. Zimmerman, a 28-year-old man of mixed race, was the neighborhood watch coordinator for his gated community where Martin was visiting his relatives at the time of the shooting. Zimmerman shot Martin, who was unarmed, during a physical altercation between the two. Zimmerman, injured during the encounter, told police he shot Martin in self-defense.

      3. Organized group of civilians dedicated to crime prevention

        Neighborhood watch

        A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch, also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood.

      4. City in Florida, United States

        Sanford, Florida

        Sanford is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 61,051.

      5. U.S. state

        Florida

        Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba; it is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Spanning 65,758 square miles (170,310 km2), Florida ranks 22nd in area among the 50 states, and with a population of over 21 million, is the third-most populous. The state capital is Tallahassee and the most populous city is Jacksonville. The Miami metropolitan area, with a population of almost 6.2 million, is the most populous urban area in Florida and the ninth-most populous in the United States; other urban conurbations with over one million people are Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville.

  6. 2008

    1. In the first significant cultural visit from the United States to North Korea since the Korean War, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra performed in East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.

      1. 1950–1953 war between North and South Korea

        Korean War

        The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and rebellions in South Korea. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the United States and allied countries. The fighting ended with an armistice on 27 July 1953.

      2. American symphony orchestra in New York City

        New York Philharmonic

        The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the "Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, located in New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

      3. 2008 concert by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang, North Korea

        2008 New York Philharmonic visit to North Korea

        The New York Philharmonic concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, on February 26, 2008, was a significant event in North Korea–United States relations. The orchestra played in East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, with the entire concert broadcast on North Korean state television.

      4. East Pyongyang Grand Theatre

        The East Pyongyang Grand Theatre is a 2,500-seat theatre located in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. It was the site of the 2008 concert by the New York Philharmonic, which was the first significant cultural visit to North Korea by the United States since the Korean War.

    2. The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.

      1. American symphony orchestra in New York City

        New York Philharmonic

        The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the "Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, located in New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

      2. 2008 concert by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang, North Korea

        2008 New York Philharmonic visit to North Korea

        The New York Philharmonic concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, on February 26, 2008, was a significant event in North Korea–United States relations. The orchestra played in East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, with the entire concert broadcast on North Korean state television.

  7. 1995

    1. Barings Bank, the oldest merchant bank in London, was declared insolvent after its head derivatives trader in Singapore, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million while making unauthorised trades on futures contracts.

      1. Defunct English merchant bank

        Barings Bank

        Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member of the German-British Baring family of merchants and bankers.

      2. Deals in commercial loans and investment

        Merchant bank

        A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodities, particularly cloth merchants. Historically, merchant banks' purpose was to facilitate and/or finance production and trade of commodities, hence the name "merchant". Few banks today restrict their activities to such a narrow scope.

      3. Financial contract whose value comes from the underlying entity's performance

        Derivative (finance)

        In finance, a derivative is a contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This underlying entity can be an asset, index, or interest rate, and is often simply called the "underlying". Derivatives can be used for a number of purposes, including insuring against price movements (hedging), increasing exposure to price movements for speculation, or getting access to otherwise hard-to-trade assets or markets.

      4. English former derivatives trader

        Nick Leeson

        Nicholas William Leeson is an English former derivatives trader whose fraudulent, unauthorized and speculative trades resulted in the 1995 collapse of Barings Bank, the United Kingdom's oldest merchant bank. Leeson was convicted of financial crime in Singapore court and served over four years in Changi Prison.

      5. Professional trader who makes unapproved financial transactions

        Rogue trader

        In financial trading, a rogue trader is an employee authorized to make trades on behalf of their employer who makes unauthorized trades. It can also involve mismarking of securities. The perpetrator is a legitimate employee of a company, but enters into transactions on behalf of their employer, or mismarks securities held by their employer, without their employer's permission.

      6. Standard forward contract

        Futures contract

        In finance, a futures contract is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset transacted is usually a commodity or financial instrument. The predetermined price of the contract is known as the forward price. The specified time in the future when delivery and payment occur is known as the delivery date. Because it derives its value from the value of the underlying asset, a futures contract is a derivative.

    2. The UK's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.

      1. Defunct English merchant bank

        Barings Bank

        Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member of the German-British Baring family of merchants and bankers.

      2. English former derivatives trader

        Nick Leeson

        Nicholas William Leeson is an English former derivatives trader whose fraudulent, unauthorized and speculative trades resulted in the 1995 collapse of Barings Bank, the United Kingdom's oldest merchant bank. Leeson was convicted of financial crime in Singapore court and served over four years in Changi Prison.

      3. Investment holding company in Singapore

        Singapore Exchange

        The Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) is a Singaporean investment holding company that provides different services related to securities and derivatives trading and others. SGX is also a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges Federation.

      4. Standard forward contract

        Futures contract

        In finance, a futures contract is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset transacted is usually a commodity or financial instrument. The predetermined price of the contract is known as the forward price. The specified time in the future when delivery and payment occur is known as the delivery date. Because it derives its value from the value of the underlying asset, a futures contract is a derivative.

  8. 1993

    1. World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.

      1. Terrorist truck attack in New York City

        1993 World Trade Center bombing

        The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., carried out on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the complex. The 1,336 lb (606 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to send the North Tower crashing into the South Tower, bringing both towers down and killing tens of thousands of people. It failed to do so, but killed six people, including a pregnant woman, and injured over one thousand. About 50,000 people were evacuated from the buildings that day.

      2. Main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York

        One World Trade Center

        One World Trade Center is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the seventh-tallest in the world. The supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site, on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center. It is bounded by West Street to the west, Vesey Street to the north, Fulton Street to the south, and Washington Street to the east.

      3. Former skyscraper complex in Manhattan, New York

        World Trade Center (1973–2001)

        The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center, 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space.

  9. 1992

    1. First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.

      1. Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict between February 1988 and May 1994

        First Nagorno-Karabakh War

        The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan. As the war progressed, Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet Republics, entangled themselves in protracted, undeclared mountain warfare in the mountainous heights of Karabakh as Azerbaijan attempted to curb the secessionist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh. The enclave's parliament had voted in favor of uniting with Armenia and a referendum, boycotted by the Azerbaijani population of Nagorno-Karabakh, was held, in which a majority voted in favor of independence. The demand to unify with Armenia began in a relatively peaceful manner in 1988; in the following months, as the Soviet Union disintegrated, it gradually grew into an increasingly violent conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, resulting in ethnic cleansing, including the Sumgait (1988) and Baku (1990) pogroms directed against Armenians, and the Gugark pogrom (1988) and Khojaly Massacre (1992) directed against Azerbaijanis. Inter-ethnic clashes between the two broke out shortly after the parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) in Azerbaijan voted to unite the region with Armenia on 20 February 1988. The declaration of secession from Azerbaijan was the culmination of a territorial conflict. As Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union and removed the powers held by the enclave's government, the Armenian majority voted to secede from Azerbaijan and in the process proclaimed the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

      2. 1992 mass killing of Azerbaijanis during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War

        Khojaly massacre

        The Khojaly massacre was the mass killing of Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian forces and the 366th CIS regiment in the town of Khojaly on 26 February 1992. The event became the largest single massacre throughout the entire Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

  10. 1987

    1. Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.

      1. 1985–1987 political scandal in the U.S.

        Iran–Contra affair

        The Iran–Contra affair, often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan administration. Between 1981 and 1986, senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras, a right-wing rebel group, in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress.

      2. 1986-87 US presidential commission which investigated the NSC's role in the Iran-Contra Scandal

        Tower Commission

        The Tower Commission was a United States presidential commission established on December 1, 1986, by President Ronald Reagan in response to the Iran–Contra affair. The commission, composed of former Senator John Tower of Texas, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, was tasked with reviewing the proper role of the National Security Council staff in national security operations generally, and in the arms transfers to Iran specifically.

      3. President of the United States from 1981 to 1989

        Ronald Reagan

        Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party from 1962 onward, he also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975 after having a career as a Hollywood actor and union leader.

  11. 1980

    1. Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.

      1. Bilateral relations

        Egypt–Israel relations

        Egypt–Israel relations are foreign relations between Egypt and Israel. The state of war between both countries which dated back to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War culminated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and was followed by the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty a year after the Camp David Accords, mediated by U.S. president Jimmy Carter. Full diplomatic relations were established on January 26, 1980, and the formal exchange of ambassadors took place one month later, on February 26, 1980, with Eliyahu Ben-Elissar serving as the first Israeli Ambassador to Egypt, and Saad Mortada as the first Egyptian Ambassador to Israel. Egypt has an embassy in Tel Aviv and a consulate in Eilat. Israel has an embassy in Cairo and a consulate in Alexandria. Their shared border has two official crossings, one at Taba and one at Nitzana. The crossing at Nitzana is for commercial and tourist traffic only. The two countries' borders also meet at the shoreline of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.

  12. 1979

    1. The Superliner railcar entered revenue service with Amtrak.

      1. Class of American double-deck long distance passenger cars

        Superliner (railcar)

        The Superliner is a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used by Amtrak, the national rail passenger carrier in the United States. Amtrak ordered the cars to replace older single-level cars on its long-distance trains in the Western United States. The design was based on the Budd Hi-Level vehicles, employed by the Santa Fe Railway on its El Capitan trains. Pullman-Standard built 284 cars, known as Superliner I, from 1975 to 1981; Bombardier Transportation built 195, known as Superliner II, from 1991 to 1996. The Superliner I cars were the last passenger cars built by Pullman.

      2. American intercity passenger rail operator

        Amtrak

        The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak, is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track.

    2. The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.

      1. Class of American double-deck long distance passenger cars

        Superliner (railcar)

        The Superliner is a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used by Amtrak, the national rail passenger carrier in the United States. Amtrak ordered the cars to replace older single-level cars on its long-distance trains in the Western United States. The design was based on the Budd Hi-Level vehicles, employed by the Santa Fe Railway on its El Capitan trains. Pullman-Standard built 284 cars, known as Superliner I, from 1975 to 1981; Bombardier Transportation built 195, known as Superliner II, from 1991 to 1996. The Superliner I cars were the last passenger cars built by Pullman.

      2. American intercity passenger rail operator

        Amtrak

        The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak, is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track.

  13. 1971

    1. U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

      1. Chief Administrative Officer; Head of the UN Secretariat

        Secretary-General of the United Nations

        The secretary-general of the United Nations is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.

      2. UN Secretary-General from 1961 to 1971

        U Thant

        Thant, known honorifically as U Thant, was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position. He held the office for a record 10 years and one month.

      3. Intergovernmental organization

        United Nations

        The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world's largest and most familiar international organization. The UN is headquartered on international territory in New York City, and has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague.

      4. Annual international event on April 22

        Earth Day

        Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2022 is Invest In Our Planet.

  14. 1966

    1. Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket.

      1. 1961–1972 American crewed lunar exploration program

        Apollo program

        The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the third United States human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which succeeded in preparing and landing the first humans on the Moon from 1968 to 1972. It was first conceived in 1960 during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration as a three-person spacecraft to follow the one-person Project Mercury, which put the first Americans in space. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal for the 1960s of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in an address to Congress on May 25, 1961. It was the third US human spaceflight program to fly, preceded by the two-person Project Gemini conceived in 1961 to extend spaceflight capability in support of Apollo.

      2. 1966 uncrewed, suborbital test flight within the Apollo program

        AS-201

        AS-201, flown February 26, 1966, was the first uncrewed test flight of an entire production Block I Apollo command and service module and the Saturn IB launch vehicle. The spacecraft consisted of the second Block I command module and the first Block I service module. The suborbital flight was a partially successful demonstration of the service propulsion system and the reaction control systems of both modules, and successfully demonstrated the capability of the command module's heat shield to survive re-entry from low Earth orbit.

      3. American rocket used in the Apollo program during the 1960s and 70s

        Saturn IB

        The Saturn IB was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage, with the S-IVB. The S-IB first stage also increased the S-I baseline's thrust from 1,500,000 pounds-force (6,700,000 N) to 1,600,000 pounds-force (7,100,000 N) and propellant load by 3.1%. This increased the Saturn I's low Earth orbit payload capability from 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) to 46,000 pounds (21,000 kg), enough for early flight tests of a half-fueled Apollo command and service module (CSM) or a fully fueled Apollo Lunar Module (LM), before the larger Saturn V needed for lunar flight was ready.

  15. 1960

    1. A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.

      1. Defunct national airline of Italy (1946—2021)

        Alitalia

        Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia, was an airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The airline was owned by the Government of Italy from its founding in 1946 until it was privatized in 2009; after struggling with profitability while a private company, including failed negotiations to sell to other private parties, the Italian government took ownership of the airline in March 2020. The airline operated a fleet of Airbus A319, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Airbus A330-200, and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft to over 34 scheduled domestic, European and intercontinental destinations. The airline operated from its main hub at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport. The airline was a full member of SkyTeam alliance, and it had codeshare agreements with 42 airlines. In 2018, the airline was the twelfth-largest airline in Europe.

      2. 1960 aviation accident

        Alitalia Flight 618

        The crash of Alitalia Flight 618 was an accident involving a Douglas DC-7C of the Italian airline Alitalia in Shannon, Ireland, on 26 February 1960. Of the 52 people on board, only 18 survived with serious injuries.

      3. Town in County Clare, Ireland

        Shannon, County Clare

        Shannon or Shannon Town, named after the river near which it stands, is a town in County Clare, Ireland. It was given town status on 1 January 1982. The town is located just off the N19 road, a spur of the N18/M18 road between Limerick and Ennis. It is the location of Shannon Airport, an international airport serving the Clare/Limerick region in the west of Ireland.

      4. Island in the North Atlantic Ocean

        Ireland

        Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

  16. 1952

    1. Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.

      1. Governor General of Canada from 1952 to 1959

        Vincent Massey

        Charles Vincent Massey was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 18th since Confederation. Massey was the first governor general of Canada who was born in Canada after Confederation.

      2. Representative of the monarch of Canada

        Governor General of Canada

        The governor general of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently King Charles III. The King is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but he resides in his oldest and most populous realm, the United Kingdom. The King, on the advice of his Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to carry on the Government of Canada in the King's name, performing most of his constitutional and ceremonial duties. The commission is for an indefinite period—known as serving at His Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the usual length of time. Since 1959, it has also been traditional to alternate between francophone and anglophone officeholders—although many recent governors general have been bilingual.

  17. 1945

    1. World War II: US troops reclaim the Philippine island of Corregidor from the Japanese.

      1. Global war, 1939–1945

        World War II

        World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries.

      2. WWII battle in the Pacific Theater

        Battle of Corregidor (1945)

        The Battle for the Recapture of Corregidor, which occurred from the 16th to the 26th of February, 1945, pitted American forces against the defending Japanese garrison on the island fortress. The Japanese had captured the bastion from the United States Army Forces in the Far East during their 1942 invasion.

  18. 1936

    1. Imperial Japanese Army troops attempted a coup d'etat, occupying parts of Tokyo, and killing several politicians, including finance minister Takahashi Korekiyo.

      1. Ground-based armed forces of Japan, from 1868 to 1945

        Imperial Japanese Army

        The Imperial Japanese Army was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan as supreme commander of the army and the Imperial Japanese Navy. Later an Inspectorate General of Aviation became the third agency with oversight of the army. During wartime or national emergencies, the nominal command functions of the emperor would be centralized in an Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ), an ad hoc body consisting of the chief and vice chief of the Army General Staff, the Minister of the Army, the chief and vice chief of the Naval General Staff, the Inspector General of Aviation, and the Inspector General of Military Training.

      2. Failed 1936 coup d'état in Japan

        February 26 incident

        The February 26 Incident was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan on 26 February 1936. It was organized by a group of young Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) officers with the goal of purging the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological opponents.

      3. Japanese politician (1854–1936)

        Takahashi Korekiyo

        Viscount Takahashi Korekiyo was a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Peers, as Prime Minister of Japan from 1921 to 1922, and as the head of the Bank of Japan and Ministry of Finance.

    2. In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.

      1. Failed 1936 coup d'état in Japan

        February 26 incident

        The February 26 Incident was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan on 26 February 1936. It was organized by a group of young Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) officers with the goal of purging the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological opponents.

      2. Deposition of a government

        Coup d'état

        A coup d'état, also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, military, or a dictator. Many scholars consider a coup successful when the usurpers seize and hold power for at least seven days.

      3. System or group of people governing an organized community, often a state

        Government

        A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.

  19. 1935

    1. Adolf Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe reinstated, violating the Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of World War I.

      1. Dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945

        Adolf Hitler

        Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.

      2. Aerial-warfare branch of the German military forces during World War II

        Luftwaffe

        The Luftwaffe was the aerial-warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Imperial Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force.

      3. One of the treaties that ended World War I

        Treaty of Versailles

        The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties. Although the armistice of 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919.

      4. Global war, 1914–1918

        World War I

        World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, and referred to by some Anglophone authors as the "Great War" or the "War to End All Wars", was a global conflict which lasted from 1914 to 1918, and is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war.

    2. With the aid of a radio station in Daventry, England, and two receiving antennae, Scottish engineer and inventor Robert Watson-Watt first demonstrated the use of radar.

      1. Market town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England

        Daventry

        Daventry is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making it the sixth largest town in Northamptonshire.

      2. Electrical device

        Antenna (radio)

        In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an electric current to the antenna's terminals, and the antenna radiates the energy from the current as electromagnetic waves. In reception, an antenna intercepts some of the power of a radio wave in order to produce an electric current at its terminals, that is applied to a receiver to be amplified. Antennas are essential components of all radio equipment.

      3. 20th-century Scottish physicist and pioneer of direction-finding and radar technology

        Robert Watson-Watt

        Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.

      4. Object detection system using radio waves

        Radar

        Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (ranging), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. A radar system consists of a transmitter producing electromagnetic waves in the radio or microwaves domain, a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna and a receiver and processor to determine properties of the objects. Radio waves from the transmitter reflect off the objects and return to the receiver, giving information about the objects' locations and speeds.

    3. Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.

      1. Dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945

        Adolf Hitler

        Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.

      2. Aerial-warfare branch of the German military forces during World War II

        Luftwaffe

        The Luftwaffe was the aerial-warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Imperial Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force.

      3. One of the treaties that ended World War I

        Treaty of Versailles

        The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties. Although the armistice of 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919.

    4. Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.

      1. 20th-century Scottish physicist and pioneer of direction-finding and radar technology

        Robert Watson-Watt

        Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.

      2. Market town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England

        Daventry

        Daventry is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making it the sixth largest town in Northamptonshire.

      3. Object detection system using radio waves

        Radar

        Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (ranging), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. A radar system consists of a transmitter producing electromagnetic waves in the radio or microwaves domain, a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna and a receiver and processor to determine properties of the objects. Radio waves from the transmitter reflect off the objects and return to the receiver, giving information about the objects' locations and speeds.

  20. 1929

    1. President Calvin Coolidge signs legislation establishing the 96,000 acres (390 km2) Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

      1. President of the United States from 1923 to 1929

        Calvin Coolidge

        Calvin Coolidge was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, becoming the state's 48th governor. His response to the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight as a man of decisive action. Coolidge was elected the country's 29th vice president the next year, succeeding the presidency upon the sudden death of President Warren G. Harding in 1923. Elected in his own right in 1924, Coolidge gained a reputation as a small-government conservative distinguished by a taciturn personality and dry sense of humor, receiving the nickname "Silent Cal." Though his widespread popularity enabled him to run for a third term, he chose not to run again in 1928, remarking that ten years as president was "longer than any other man has had it – too long!"

      2. United States National Park in northwestern Wyoming

        Grand Teton National Park

        Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately 310,000 acres (1,300 km2), the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park is only 10 miles (16 km) south of Yellowstone National Park, to which it is connected by the National Park Service–managed John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Along with surrounding national forests, these three protected areas constitute the almost 18-million-acre (73,000-square-kilometer) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the world's largest intact mid-latitude temperate ecosystems.

      3. U.S. state

        Wyoming

        Wyoming is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the south. With a population of 576,851 in the 2020 United States census, Wyoming is the least populous state despite being the 10th largest by area, with the second-lowest population density after Alaska. The state capital and most populous city is Cheyenne, which had an estimated population of 63,957 in 2018.

  21. 1919

    1. President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.

      1. President of the United States from 1913 to 1921

        Woodrow Wilson

        Thomas Woodrow Wilson was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of Princeton University and as the governor of New Jersey before winning the 1912 presidential election. As president, Wilson changed the nation's economic policies and led the United States into World War I in 1917. He was the leading architect of the League of Nations, and his progressive stance on foreign policy came to be known as Wilsonianism.

      2. National park in Arizona, United States

        Grand Canyon National Park

        'Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received more than six million recreational visitors in 2017, which is the second highest count of all American national parks after Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019.

  22. 1917

    1. The Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded "Livery Stable Blues", the first jazz single ever released.

      1. American jazz band

        Original Dixieland Jass Band

        The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the most famous being "Tiger Rag". In late 1917, the spelling of the band's name was changed to Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

      2. 1917 single by Original Dixieland Jass Band

        Livery Stable Blues

        "Livery Stable Blues" is a jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez (né Raymond Edward Lopez; 1889–1979) and Alcide Nunez in 1917. It was recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on February 26, 1917, and, with the A side "Dixieland Jass Band One-Step" or "Dixie Jass Band One-Step", became widely acknowledged as the first jazz recording commercially released. It was recorded by the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York City at its studio at 46 West 38th Street on the 12th floor – the top floor.

      3. Musical style and genre

        Jazz

        Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals.

  23. 1914

    1. RMS Britannic, the third and largest Olympic-class ocean liner of the White Star Line after RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, was launched at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

      1. Olympic-class ocean liner

        HMHS Britannic

        HMHS Britannic was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of steamships and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the youngest sister of the RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She was operated as a hospital ship from 1915 until her sinking near the Greek island of Kea, in the Aegean Sea, in November 1916. At the time she was the largest hospital ship in the world.

      2. Trio of ocean liners

        Olympic-class ocean liner

        The Olympic-class ocean liners were a trio of British ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line during the early 20th century. They were Olympic (1911), Titanic (1912) and Britannic (1915). All three were designed to be the largest and most luxurious passenger ships at that time, designed to give White Star an advantage in the transatlantic passenger trade.

      3. British shipping company

        White Star Line

        The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between the British Empire and the United States. While many other shipping lines focused primarily on speed, White Star branded their services by focusing more on providing comfortable passages for both upper class travellers and immigrants.

      4. British transatlantic liner (1911-1935)

        RMS Olympic

        RMS Olympic was a British ocean liner and the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of Olympic-class liners. Olympic had a career spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935, in contrast to her short-lived sister ships, Titanic and Britannic. This included service as a troopship during the First World War, which gained her the nickname Old Reliable. She returned to civilian service after the war, and served successfully as an ocean liner throughout the 1920s and into the first half of the 1930s, although increased competition, and the slump in trade during the Great Depression after 1930, made her operation increasingly unprofitable.

      5. British ship that sank in 1912

        Titanic

        RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it the deadliest sinking of a single ship up to that time. It remains the deadliest peacetime sinking of a superliner or cruise ship. The disaster drew public attention, provided foundational material for the disaster film genre, and has inspired many artistic works.

      6. Shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland

        Harland & Wolff

        Harland & Wolff is a shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, conversion and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line, including Olympic-class trio – RMS Titanic, RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic. Outside of White Star Line, other ships that have been built include the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast; Royal Mail Line's Andes; Shaw, Savill & Albion's Southern Cross; Union-Castle's RMS Pendennis Castle; and P&O's Canberra. Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.

      7. Capital of Northern Ireland

        Belfast

        Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom and the second-largest in Ireland. It had a population of 345,418 in 2021.

    2. HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

      1. Olympic-class ocean liner

        HMHS Britannic

        HMHS Britannic was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of steamships and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the youngest sister of the RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She was operated as a hospital ship from 1915 until her sinking near the Greek island of Kea, in the Aegean Sea, in November 1916. At the time she was the largest hospital ship in the world.

      2. British ship that sank in 1912

        Titanic

        RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it the deadliest sinking of a single ship up to that time. It remains the deadliest peacetime sinking of a superliner or cruise ship. The disaster drew public attention, provided foundational material for the disaster film genre, and has inspired many artistic works.

      3. Shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland

        Harland & Wolff

        Harland & Wolff is a shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, conversion and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line, including Olympic-class trio – RMS Titanic, RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic. Outside of White Star Line, other ships that have been built include the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast; Royal Mail Line's Andes; Shaw, Savill & Albion's Southern Cross; Union-Castle's RMS Pendennis Castle; and P&O's Canberra. Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.

      4. Capital of Northern Ireland

        Belfast

        Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom and the second-largest in Ireland. It had a population of 345,418 in 2021.

  24. 1909

    1. Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.

      1. Color motion picture process

        Kinemacolor

        Kinemacolor was the first successful colour motion picture process, used commercially from 1908 to 1914. It was invented by George Albert Smith in 1906. He was influenced by the work of William Norman Lascelles Davidson and, more directly, Edward Raymond Turner. It was launched by Charles Urban's Urban Trading Co. of London in 1908. From 1909 on, the process was known and trademarked as Kinemacolor. It was a two-colour additive colour process, photographing and projecting a black-and-white film behind alternating red and green filters.

      2. Sequence of images that give the impression of movement, stored on film stock

        Film

        A film – also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture or photoplay – is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it.

      3. West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London

        Palace Theatre, London

        The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red-brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus behind a small plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road. The Palace Theatre seats 1,400.

  25. 1876

    1. Japan and Korea sign the Treaty of Kangwha, which grants Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights in Korea, opens three Korean ports to Japanese trade, and ends Korea's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.

      1. Empire in the Asia-Pacific region from 1868 to 1947

        Empire of Japan

        The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent formation of modern Japan. It encompassed the Japanese archipelago and several colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories.

      2. Monarchical empire in the Asia-Pacific region in 1897–1910, protectorate of Japan from 1905

        Korean Empire

        The Korean Empire was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire stood until Japan's annexation of Korea in August 1910.

      3. Unequal treaty which forced Joseon-dynasty Korea into Imperial Japan's sphere of influence

        Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876

        The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 was made between representatives of the Empire of Japan and the Korean Kingdom of Joseon in 1876. Negotiations were concluded on February 26, 1876.

      4. State of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law

        Extraterritoriality

        In international law, extraterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations.

      5. State in a subordinate relationship to another, more powerful state

        Tributary state

        A tributary state is a term for a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power. This token often took the form of a substantial transfer of wealth, such as the delivery of gold, produce, or slaves, so that tribute might best be seen as the payment of protection money. Or it might be more symbolic: sometimes it amounted to no more than the delivery of a mark of submission such as the bunga mas that rulers in the Malay peninsula used to send to the kings of Siam, or the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon that the Grand Master of the Order of St. John used to send annually to the Viceroy of Sicily in order to rule Malta. It might also involve attendance by the subordinate ruler at the court of the hegemon in order to make a public show of submission.

      6. Manchu-led dynasty of China (1636–1912)

        Qing dynasty

        The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaking ethnic group who unified other Jurchen tribes to form a new "Manchu" ethnic identity. The dynasty was officially proclaimed in 1636 in Manchuria. It seized control of Beijing in 1644, then later expanded its rule over the whole of China proper and Taiwan, and finally expanded into Inner Asia. The dynasty lasted until 1912 when it was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution. In orthodox Chinese historiography, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The multiethnic Qing empire lasted for almost three centuries and assembled the territorial base for modern China. It was the largest imperial dynasty in the history of China and in 1790 the fourth-largest empire in world history in terms of territorial size. With 419,264,000 citizens in 1907, it was the world's most populous country at the time.

  26. 1870

    1. The Beach Pneumatic Transit in New York City, intending as a demonstration for a subway line opens.

      1. Former demonstration subway line in New York City

        Beach Pneumatic Transit

        The Beach Pneumatic Transit was the first attempt to build an underground public transit system in New York City. It was developed by Alfred Ely Beach in 1869 as a demonstration subway line running on pneumatic power. The subway line had one stop in the basement of the Rogers Peet Building and a one-car shuttle going back and forth. It was not a regular mode of transportation, and lasted from 1870 until 1873.

  27. 1815

    1. Napoleon escaped from the Italian island of Elba (depicted), to which he had been exiled after the signing of the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

      1. Military leader and emperor of France

        Napoleon

        Napoleon Bonaparte, later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He was the de facto leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 and again in 1815. Napoleon's political and cultural legacy endures to this day, as a highly celebrated and controversial leader. He initiated many liberal reforms that have persisted in society, and is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, but between three and six million civilians and soldiers perished in what became known as the Napoleonic Wars.

      2. Mediterranean island in Italy

        Elba

        Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, 10 km (6.2 mi) from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, and the third largest island in Italy, after Sicily and Sardinia. It is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea about 50 km (30 mi) east of the French island of Corsica.

      3. 1814 treaty that exiled Napoleon to Elba

        Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814)

        The Treaty of Fontainebleau was an agreement established in Fontainebleau, France, on 11 April 1814 between Napoleon and representatives of Austria, Russia and Prussia. The treaty was signed in Paris on 11 April by the plenipotentiaries of both sides and ratified by Napoleon on 13 April. With this treaty, the allies ended Napoleon's rule as emperor of the French and sent him into exile on Elba.

    2. Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of Elba.

      1. Military leader and emperor of France

        Napoleon

        Napoleon Bonaparte, later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He was the de facto leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 and again in 1815. Napoleon's political and cultural legacy endures to this day, as a highly celebrated and controversial leader. He initiated many liberal reforms that have persisted in society, and is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, but between three and six million civilians and soldiers perished in what became known as the Napoleonic Wars.

      2. Mediterranean island in Italy

        Elba

        Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, 10 km (6.2 mi) from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, and the third largest island in Italy, after Sicily and Sardinia. It is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea about 50 km (30 mi) east of the French island of Corsica.

  28. 1794

    1. The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.

      1. Residential palace for the King of Denmark in Copenhagen from 1745 until a 1794 fire

        Christiansborg Palace (1st)

        The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, was built on Slotsholmen in 1745 as a new main residence for King Christian VI of Denmark. It was built on the same site as its predecessor, Copenhagen Castle, which had assumed a monstrous appearance and started to crumble under its own weight after several extensions.

      2. Capital and largest city of Denmark

        Copenhagen

        Copenhagen is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.3m. and the Copenhagen metropolitan area 2,057,142. Copenhagen is on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.

  29. 1775

    1. The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates.

      1. 16th- to 19th-century British trading company

        East India Company

        The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies, and later with East Asia. The company seized control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world. The EIC had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three Presidency armies, totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British army at the time. The operations of the company had a profound effect on the global balance of trade, almost single-handedly reversing the trend of eastward drain of Western bullion, seen since Roman times.

      2. Transshipment zone (5th- to 19th-century name)

        Factory (trading post)

        Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, often known as factors. First established in Europe, factories eventually spread to many other parts of the world. The origin of the word factory is from Latin factorium 'place of doers, makers'.

      3. Island in Kudat Division, Sabah, eastern Malaysia

        Balambangan Island

        Balambangan Island is an island in Kudat Division, Sabah, Malaysia. It is located off the northern tip of Borneo and is situated just about 3 kilometres west of Banggi Island. It is now part of the Tun Mustapha Marine Park.

      4. Historical and contemporary piracy in the waters between Borneo and the western Philippines

        Piracy in the Sulu and Celebes Seas

        The Sulu and Celebes Seas, a semi- enclosed sea area and porous region that covers an area of space around 1 million square kilometres, have been subject to illegal maritime activities since the pre-colonial era and continue to pose a maritime security threat to bordering nations up to this day. While piracy has long been identified as an ubiquitous challenge, being historically interwoven with the region, recent incidents also include other types of maritime crimes such as kidnapping and the trafficking of humans, arms and drugs. Attacks mostly classify as 'armed robbery against ships' according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as they occur in maritime zones that lie under the sovereignty of a coastal state. Incidents in the Sulu and Celebes Seas specifically involve the abduction of crew members. Since March 2016, the Information Sharing Centre (ISC) of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) reports a total of 86 abuctions, leading to the issue of a warning for ships transpassing the area.

  30. 1616

    1. Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.

      1. 17th century conflict between Galileo Galilei and the Roman Catholic Church

        Galileo affair

        The Galileo affair began around 1610 and culminated with the trial and condemnation of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633. Galileo was prosecuted for his support of heliocentrism, the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the centre of the universe.

      2. Sun-centered astronomical model

        Heliocentrism

        Heliocentrism is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center. The notion that the Earth revolves around the Sun had been proposed as early as the third century BC by Aristarchus of Samos, who had been influenced by a concept presented by Philolaus of Croton. In the 5th century BC the Greek Philosophers Philolaus and Hicetas had the thought on different occasions that our Earth was spherical and revolving around a "mystical" central fire, and that this fire regulated the universe. In medieval Europe, however, Aristarchus' heliocentrism attracted little attention—possibly because of the loss of scientific works of the Hellenistic period.

  31. 1606

    1. Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon made the first recorded European landing in Australia, although he believed that he was on New Guinea.

      1. Dutch navigator and colonial governor (1570–1630)

        Willem Janszoon

        Willem Janszoon, sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz., was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. Janszoon served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 1603–1611 and 1612–1616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of Solor. During his voyage of 1605–1606, he became the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia.

      2. European voyage of discovery to the Australian continent

        Janszoon voyage of 1605–06

        Willem Janszoon captained the first recorded European landing on the Australian continent in 1606, sailing from Bantam, Java, in the Duyfken. As an employee of the Dutch East India Company, Janszoon had been instructed to explore the coast of New Guinea in search of economic opportunities. He had originally arrived in the Dutch East Indies from the Netherlands in 1598, and became an officer of the VOC on its establishment in 1602.

      3. Island in the Pacific Ocean

        New Guinea

        New Guinea is the world's second-largest island with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The eastern half of the island is the major land mass of the independent state of Papua New Guinea. The western half, known as Western New Guinea, forms a part of Indonesia and is organized as the provinces of Papua, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, and West Papua. The largest cities on the island are Jayapura and Port Moresby.

    2. The Janszoon voyage of 1605–06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea.

      1. European voyage of discovery to the Australian continent

        Janszoon voyage of 1605–06

        Willem Janszoon captained the first recorded European landing on the Australian continent in 1606, sailing from Bantam, Java, in the Duyfken. As an employee of the Dutch East India Company, Janszoon had been instructed to explore the coast of New Guinea in search of economic opportunities. He had originally arrived in the Dutch East Indies from the Netherlands in 1598, and became an officer of the VOC on its establishment in 1602.

  32. 1365

    1. The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) founded by King Thado Minbya.

      1. Polity in upper Myanmar (1365–1555)

        Kingdom of Ava

        The Kingdom of Ava was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing that had ruled central Burma since the collapse of the Pagan Empire in the late 13th century.

      2. 14th–19th-century Burmese imperial capital

        Inwa

        Inwa, located in Mandalay Region, Myanmar, is an ancient imperial capital of successive Burmese kingdoms from the 14th to 19th centuries. Throughout history, it was sacked and rebuilt numerous times. The capital city was finally abandoned after it was destroyed by a series of major earthquakes in March 1839. Though only a few traces of its former grandeur remain today, the former capital is a popular day-trip tourist destination from Mandalay.

      3. First monarch of the Kingdom of Ava in present-day Myanmar (Burma)

        Thado Minbya

        Thado Minbya was the founder of the Kingdom of Ava. In his three plus years of reign (1364–67), the king laid the foundation for the reunification of Central Burma, which had been split into Pinya and Sagaing kingdoms since 1315. He also founded the capital city of Ava (Inwa) in 1365, which would remain the country's capital for most of the following five centuries. The young king restored order in central Burma, and tried to stamp out corrupt Buddhist clergy. He died of smallpox while on a southern military expedition in September 1367.

  33. 1266

    1. Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines: Manfred, King of Sicily, was killed in the Battle of Benevento against the forces of Charles of Anjou.

      1. Rival political factions in medieval Italy

        Guelphs and Ghibellines

        The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy.

      2. King of Sicily from 1258 to 1266

        Manfred, King of Sicily

        Manfred was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the kingdom of Sicily on behalf of his nephew Conradin in 1254. As regent he subdued rebellions in the kingdom, until in 1258 he usurped Conradin's rule. After an initial attempt to appease Pope Innocent IV he took up the ongoing conflict between the Hohenstaufens and the papacy through combat and political alliances. He defeated the papal army at Foggia on 2 December 1254. Excommunicated by three successive popes, Manfred was the target of a Crusade (1255–66) called first by Pope Alexander IV and then by Urban IV. Nothing came of Alexander's call, but Urban enlisted the aid of Charles of Anjou in overthrowing Manfred. Manfred was killed during his defeat by Charles at the Battle of Benevento, and Charles assumed kingship of Sicily.

      3. Battle between the troops of Charles of Anjou and Manfred of Sicily

        Battle of Benevento

        The Battle of Benevento was a major medieval battle fought on 26 February 1266, near Benevento in present-day Southern Italy, between the forces of Charles I of Anjou and those of King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred's defeat and death resulted in Charles' conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily, effectively ending the rule of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in the Italian Peninsula and marking the rise of the royal Capetian House of Anjou. The engagement was part of the conflict which pitted Guelphs against Ghibellines.

      4. King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285

        Charles I of Anjou

        Charles I, commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier in the Holy Roman Empire, Count of Anjou and Maine (1246–85) in France; he was also King of Sicily (1266–85) and Prince of Achaea (1278–85). In 1272, he was proclaimed King of Albania, and in 1277 he purchased a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

    2. Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.

      1. Battle between the troops of Charles of Anjou and Manfred of Sicily

        Battle of Benevento

        The Battle of Benevento was a major medieval battle fought on 26 February 1266, near Benevento in present-day Southern Italy, between the forces of Charles I of Anjou and those of King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred's defeat and death resulted in Charles' conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily, effectively ending the rule of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in the Italian Peninsula and marking the rise of the royal Capetian House of Anjou. The engagement was part of the conflict which pitted Guelphs against Ghibellines.

      2. King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285

        Charles I of Anjou

        Charles I, commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier in the Holy Roman Empire, Count of Anjou and Maine (1246–85) in France; he was also King of Sicily (1266–85) and Prince of Achaea (1278–85). In 1272, he was proclaimed King of Albania, and in 1277 he purchased a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

      3. Island in the Mediterranean, region of Italy

        Sicily

        Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is officially referred to as Regione Siciliana. The region has 5 million inhabitants. Its capital city is Palermo.

      4. King of Sicily from 1258 to 1266

        Manfred, King of Sicily

        Manfred was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the kingdom of Sicily on behalf of his nephew Conradin in 1254. As regent he subdued rebellions in the kingdom, until in 1258 he usurped Conradin's rule. After an initial attempt to appease Pope Innocent IV he took up the ongoing conflict between the Hohenstaufens and the papacy through combat and political alliances. He defeated the papal army at Foggia on 2 December 1254. Excommunicated by three successive popes, Manfred was the target of a Crusade (1255–66) called first by Pope Alexander IV and then by Urban IV. Nothing came of Alexander's call, but Urban enlisted the aid of Charles of Anjou in overthrowing Manfred. Manfred was killed during his defeat by Charles at the Battle of Benevento, and Charles assumed kingship of Sicily.

      5. Head of the Catholic Church from 1265 to 1268

        Pope Clement IV

        Pope Clement IV, born Gui Foucois and also known as Guy le Gros, was bishop of Le Puy (1257–1260), archbishop of Narbonne (1259–1261), cardinal of Sabina (1261–1265), and head of the Catholic Church from 5 February 1265 until his death. His election as pope occurred at a conclave held at Perugia that lasted four months while cardinals argued over whether to call in Charles I of Anjou, the youngest brother of Louis IX of France, to carry on the papal war against the Hohenstaufens. Pope Clement was a patron of Thomas Aquinas and of Roger Bacon, encouraging Bacon in the writing of his Opus Majus, which included important treatises on optics and the scientific method.

      6. Italian state (1282–1816)

        Kingdom of Naples

        The Kingdom of Naples, also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302), when the island of Sicily revolted and was conquered by the Crown of Aragon, becoming a separate kingdom also called the Kingdom of Sicily. In 1816, it reunified with the island of Sicily to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

  34. 364

    1. Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor.

      1. Roman emperor from 364 to 375

        Valentinian I

        Valentinian I, sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor, he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces. Valentinian retained the west.

      2. Ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period

        Roman emperor

        The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history. Often when a given Roman is described as becoming "emperor" in English it reflects his taking of the title augustus. Another title often used was caesar, used for heirs-apparent, and imperator, originally a military honorific. Early emperors also used the title princeps civitatis. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably princeps senatus, consul, and pontifex maximus.

  35. -747

    1. According to Ptolemy, the reign of the Babylonian king Nabonassar began, marking a new era characterized by the systematic maintenance of chronologically precise historical records.

      1. 740s BC

        This article concerns the period 749 BC – 740 BC.

      2. 2nd-century Roman mathematician, astronomer, geographer

        Ptolemy

        Claudius Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic, and Western European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, although it was originally entitled the Mathēmatikē Syntaxis or Mathematical Treatise, and later known as The Greatest Treatise. The second is the Geography, which is a thorough discussion on maps and the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika but more commonly known as the Tetrábiblos, from the Koine Greek meaning "Four Books", or by its Latin equivalent Quadripartite.

      3. Ancient city in the historical region of Mesopotamia, now in Iraq

        Babylon

        Babylon was the capital city of the ancient Babylonian Empire, which itself is a term referring to either of two separate empires in the Mesopotamian area in antiquity. These two empires achieved regional dominance between the 19th and 15th centuries BC, and again between the 7th and 6th centuries BC. The city, built along both banks of the Euphrates river, had steep embankments to contain the river's seasonal floods. The earliest known mention of Babylon as a small town appears on a clay tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad of the Akkadian Empire. The site of the ancient city lies just south of present-day Baghdad. The last known record of habitation of the town dates from the 10th century AD, when it was referred to as the "small village of Babel".

      4. 8th-century BC king of Babylon

        Nabonassar

        Nabû-nāṣir was the king of Babylon from 747 to 734 BC. He deposed a foreign Chaldean usurper named Nabu-shuma-ishkun, bringing native rule back to Babylon after twenty-three years of Chaldean rule. His reign saw the beginning of a new era characterized by the systematic maintenance of chronologically precise historical records. Both the Babylonian Chronicle and the Ptolemaic Canon begin with his accession to the throne. He was contemporary with the Assyrian kings Aššur-nirarī V and Tiglath-Pileser III, the latter under whom he became a vassal, and the Elamite kings Humban-Tahrah I and Humban-Nikaš I.

    2. According to Ptolemy, the epoch (origin) of the Nabonassar Era began at noon on this date. Historians use this to establish the modern BC chronology for dating historic events.

      1. 2nd-century Roman mathematician, astronomer, geographer

        Ptolemy

        Claudius Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic, and Western European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, although it was originally entitled the Mathēmatikē Syntaxis or Mathematical Treatise, and later known as The Greatest Treatise. The second is the Geography, which is a thorough discussion on maps and the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika but more commonly known as the Tetrábiblos, from the Koine Greek meaning "Four Books", or by its Latin equivalent Quadripartite.

      2. Reference point from which time is measured

        Epoch

        In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.

      3. 8th-century BC king of Babylon

        Nabonassar

        Nabû-nāṣir was the king of Babylon from 747 to 734 BC. He deposed a foreign Chaldean usurper named Nabu-shuma-ishkun, bringing native rule back to Babylon after twenty-three years of Chaldean rule. His reign saw the beginning of a new era characterized by the systematic maintenance of chronologically precise historical records. Both the Babylonian Chronicle and the Ptolemaic Canon begin with his accession to the throne. He was contemporary with the Assyrian kings Aššur-nirarī V and Tiglath-Pileser III, the latter under whom he became a vassal, and the Elamite kings Humban-Tahrah I and Humban-Nikaš I.

      4. Western calendar era

        Anno Domini

        The terms anno Domini (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", taken from the full original phrase "anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi", which translates to 'in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ'. The form "BC" is specific to English and equivalent abbreviations are used in other languages: the Latin form is Ante Christum natum but is rarely seen.

Births & Deaths

  1. 2017

    1. Joseph Wapner, American judge and TV personality (b. 1919) deaths

      1. American jurist and television personality

        Joseph Wapner

        Joseph Albert Wapner (November 15, 1919 – February 26, 2017) was an American judge and television personality. He is best known as the first presiding judge of the ongoing reality court show The People's Court. The court show's first run in syndication, with Wapner presiding as judge, lasted from 1981 to 1993, for a total of 12 seasons and 2,484 episodes. While the show's second run has been presided over by multiple judges, Wapner was the sole judge to preside during the court show's first incarnation. His tenure on the program made him the first jurist of arbitration-based reality court shows, which evolved into the most popular trend in the judicial genre and continues to be to the present.

  2. 2016

    1. Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1932) deaths

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Andy Bathgate

        Andrew James Bathgate was a Canadian professional ice hockey right wing who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins between 1952 and 1971. In 2017 Bathgate was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.

    2. Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta (b. 1933) deaths

      1. Premier of Alberta from 1985 to 1992

        Don Getty

        Donald Ross Getty was a Canadian politician who served as the 11th premier of Alberta between 1985 and 1992. A member of the Progressive Conservatives, he served as Energy Minister and Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister in the government of Peter Lougheed before leaving politics for the private sector in 1979. He returned to politics six years later to contest the leadership contest resulting from Lougheed's retirement. He defeated two other candidates, and became Premier November 1, 1985.

      2. First minister for the Canadian province of Alberta

        Premier of Alberta

        The premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta, and the province's head of government. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022.

  3. 2015

    1. Sheppard Frere, English historian and archaeologist (b. 1916) deaths

      1. British historian and archaeologist

        Sheppard Frere

        Sheppard Sunderland Frere, CBE, FSA, FBA was a British historian and archaeologist who studied the Roman Empire. He was a fellow at All Souls College, Oxford.

    2. Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic (b. 1917) deaths

      1. 15th President of the University of Notre Dame

        Theodore Hesburgh

        Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC was a native of Syracuse, New York, who became an ordained priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and is best known for his service as the president of the University of Notre Dame for thirty-five years (1952–1987). In addition to his career as an educator and author, Hesburgh was a public servant and social activist involved in numerous American civic and governmental initiatives, commissions, international humanitarian projects, and papal assignments. Hesburgh received numerous honors and awards for his service, most notably the United States's Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964) and Congressional Gold Medal (2000). As of 2013, he also held the world's record for the individual with most honorary degrees with more than 150.

    3. Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928) deaths

      1. American basketball player and coach

        Earl Lloyd

        Earl Francis Lloyd was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was the first African American player to play a game in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

    4. Tom Schweich, American lawyer and politician, 36th State Auditor of Missouri (b. 1960) deaths

      1. American politician, diplomat and attorney

        Tom Schweich

        Thomas A. Schweich was an American politician, diplomat, attorney, and author. A member of the Republican Party, Schweich served as State Auditor of Missouri from 2011 until his death in 2015.

      2. State Auditor of Missouri

        The State Auditor of Missouri is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Missouri. The State Auditor is charged by Article IV, Section 13 of the Missouri Constitution with supervising and auditing the receipt and expenditure of public funds and prescribing appropriate systems of accounts for all public offices. In accordance with this mandate, the State Auditor conducts financial and performance audits for approximately 200 state agencies, boards, and commissions, and the state's judicial branch. The State Auditor also audits county and city governments lacking their own auditor or when requested by citizen petition. The State Auditor serves a four-year term, and is the only state Executive Branch official elected in even-numbered non-presidential election years. The office was temporarily held by John Watson after Tom Schweich, who was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014, died on February 26, 2015. Nicole Galloway was appointed by Governor Jay Nixon to fill the office on a permanent basis until the 2018 election, effective on April 27, 2015, and was subsequently elected to a full term. The next election for State Auditor is scheduled for 2022.

  4. 2014

    1. Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator (b. 1933) deaths

      1. Sorel Etrog

        Sorel Etrog, was a Romanian-born Israeli-Canadian artist, writer, and philosopher best known for his work as a sculptor. He specialised in modern art works and contemporary sculpture. Etrog's works explore his first-hand experience of the Second World War; the renewal of sculptural traditions in modern art, such as the use of bronze as a medium; and the opposition between the mechanical and the organic. One of Canada's leading artists in the 1960s, Etrog contributed to the country's growing interest in sculpture.

    2. Phyllis Krasilovsky, American author and academic (b. 1927) deaths

      1. American writer

        Phyllis Krasilovsky

        Phyllis Louise Krasilovsky was an American writer of children's books.

  5. 2013

    1. Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and educator (b. 1926) deaths

      1. French organist and organ teacher

        Marie-Claire Alain

        Marie-Claire Geneviève Alain-Gommier was a French organist, scholar and teacher best known for her prolific recording career, with 260 recordings, making her the most-recorded classical organist in the world. She taught many of the world's prominent organists. She was a specialist in Bach, making three recordings of his complete organ works, as well as French organ music.

    2. Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author (b. 1917) deaths

      1. Stéphane Hessel

        Stéphane Frédéric Hessel was a diplomat, ambassador, writer, concentration camp survivor, French Resistance member and BCRA agent. Born German, he became a naturalised French citizen in 1939. He became an observer of the editing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. In 2011 he was named by Foreign Policy magazine in its list of top global thinkers. In later years his activism focused on economic inequalities, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and protection for the post-World War II social vision. His short book Time for Outrage! sold 4.5 million copies worldwide. Hessel and his book were linked and cited as an inspiration for the Spanish Indignados, the Arab Spring, the American Occupy Wall Street movement and other political movements.

    3. Simon Li, Hong Kong judge and politician (b. 1922) deaths

      1. Simon Li

        Simon Li Fook-sean was a Hong Kong senior judge and politician.

  6. 2012

    1. Richard Carpenter, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1929) deaths

      1. Richard Carpenter (screenwriter)

        Richard Michael "Kip" Carpenter was an English screenwriter, author, and actor who created a number of British television series, including Robin of Sherwood and Catweazle.

  7. 2011

    1. Arnošt Lustig, Czech author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1926) deaths

      1. Arnošt Lustig

        Arnošt Lustig was a renowned Czech Jewish author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays whose works have often involved the Holocaust.

  8. 2010

    1. Jun Seba, also known as "Nujabes", Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (b. 1974) deaths

      1. Japanese record producer and DJ

        Nujabes

        Jun Seba , better known by his stage name Nujabes , was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from hip hop, soul, and jazz, as well as incorporating elements of trip hop, breakbeat, downtempo, and ambient music.

  9. 2009

    1. Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1932) deaths

      1. American professional basketball player, coach, and commentator

        Johnny Kerr

        John Graham "Red" Kerr was an American basketball player, coach, and color commentator. He played in the NBA from 1954 to 1966, mainly as a member of the Syracuse Nationals. He later held several coaching and administrative positions before embarking on a thirty-three-year career as a television color commentator for the Chicago Bulls.

    2. Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943) deaths

      1. English actress (1943–2009)

        Wendy Richard

        Wendy Richard was an English actress, known for her television roles as Miss Shirley Brahms on the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1985, and Pauline Fowler on the soap opera EastEnders from 1985 to 2006.

    3. Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1947) deaths

      1. American basketball player and television broadcaster

        Norm Van Lier

        Norman Allen Van Lier III was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster who spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls.

  10. 2008

    1. Bodil Udsen, Danish actress (b. 1925) deaths

      1. Danish actress

        Bodil Udsen

        Bodil Birgitte Udsen was a Danish actress.

  11. 2006

    1. Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer (b. 1905) deaths

      1. British biographer

        Georgina Battiscombe

        Georgina Battiscombe was a British biographer, specialising mainly in lives from the Victorian era.

  12. 2005

    1. Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, created Macintosh (b. 1943) deaths

      1. American computer scientist

        Jef Raskin

        Jef Raskin was an American human–computer interface expert best known for conceiving and starting the Macintosh project at Apple in the late 1970s.

      2. Family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Inc.

        Mac (computer)

        The Mac is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc.. Macs are known for their general ease of use and distinctive aluminium, minimalist designs. Macs are notable for their popularity among students, creative professionals, and software engineers. The current Mac lineup consists of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, and the iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro desktop computers. Macs run the macOS operating system.

  13. 2004

    1. Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905) deaths

      1. Finnish general

        Adolf Ehrnrooth

        Adolf Erik Ehrnrooth was a Finnish general who served during the Winter and Continuation wars. He also competed in two equestrian events at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

    2. Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956) deaths

      1. Boris Trajkovski

        Boris Trajkovski (GCMG) was a Macedonian politician who served as the second President of Macedonia from 1999 until his death in 2004 in a plane crash.

      2. President of North Macedonia

        The President of the Republic of North Macedonia is the head of state of North Macedonia.

  14. 2002

    1. Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919) deaths

      1. American actor (1919–2002)

        Lawrence Tierney

        Lawrence James Tierney was an American film and television actor who is best known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and tough guys in a career that spanned over 50 years. His roles mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law. In 2005, film critic David Kehr of The New York Times described "the hulking Tierney" as "not so much an actor as a frightening force of nature".

  15. 2000

    1. George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1913) deaths

      1. US Navy Medal of Honor recipient (1913–2000)

        George L. Street III

        George Levick Street III was a submariner in the United States Navy. He received the Medal of Honor during World War II.

      2. Highest award in the United States Armed Forces

        Medal of Honor

        The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the president of the United States, but as it is presented "in the name of the United States Congress", it is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Congressional Medal of Honor".

    2. Raosaheb Gogte, Indian industrialist (b. 1916) deaths

      1. Indian industrialist (1916–2000)

        Raosaheb Gogte

        Balkrishna Mahadev Gogte, known colloquially as Raosaheb Gogte, was an Indian lawyer, industrialist, philanthropist and educationist.

  16. 1998

    1. Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902) deaths

      1. American economist

        Theodore Schultz

        Theodore William Schultz was an American Agricultural economist and chairman of the University of Chicago Department of Economics. Schultz rose to national prominence after winning the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

      2. Economics award

        Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

        The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is an economics award administered by the Nobel Foundation.

  17. 1997

    1. Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer births

      1. Scottish footballer

        Reghan Tumilty

        Reghan Tumilty is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for League Two club Hartlepool United.

    2. David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929) deaths

      1. American actor

        David Doyle (actor)

        David Fitzgerald Doyle was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of John Bosley on the 1970s TV series Charlie's Angels. Doyle and Jaclyn Smith were the only actors to appear in every episode of the show.

  18. 1995

    1. Jack Clayton, English director and producer (b. 1921) deaths

      1. British film director and producer (1921–1995)

        Jack Clayton

        Jack Isaac Clayton was a British film director and producer who specialised in bringing literary works to the screen.

  19. 1994

    1. Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961) deaths

      1. American comedian (1961–1994)

        Bill Hicks

        William Melvin Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—was controversial and often steeped in dark comedy.

  20. 1993

    1. Morgan Gautrat, American soccer player births

      1. American soccer player

        Morgan Gautrat

        Morgan Paige Gautrat is an American soccer player who most recently played for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, and the United States women's national soccer team. She first appeared for the United States national team during a friendly against Korea Republic on June 15, 2013. She has since made 87 total appearances for the team and scored 8 goals.

    2. Constance Ford, American model and actress (b. 1923) deaths

      1. American actress and model

        Constance Ford

        Constance Ford was an American actress and model. She is best known for her long-running role as Ada Lucas Hobson on the daytime soap opera Another World, which she played from 1967 until shortly before her death in 1993. She is also well-known for appearing in nearly two dozen movies from 1956 to 1974, with her most noteworthy role being the matriarch Helen Jorgenson in A Summer Place (1959).

  21. 1992

    1. Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player births

      1. Finnish ice hockey player

        Mikael Granlund

        Mikael Antero Granlund is a Finnish professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played professionally in Finland with Oulun Kärpät and HIFK of the SM-liiga and the Minnesota Wild of the NHL. He was selected by the Wild as the ninth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

    2. Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player births

      1. Samoa international rugby league footballer

        Michael Chee-Kam

        Michael Chee-Kam is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward or centre for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.

  22. 1991

    1. Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer births

      1. South Korean rapper and singer

        CL (rapper)

        Lee Chae-rin, better known by her stage name CL, is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she spent much of her early life in Japan and France. CL trained at JYP Entertainment before joining YG Entertainment at the age of fifteen. She debuted and rose to fame as a member of the girl group 2NE1 in 2009, which went on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all-time. As a solo artist, CL made her debut with the single "The Baddest Female" in May 2013 and released the solo track "MTBD" in February 2014 as part of 2NE1's final studio album Crush.

  23. 1990

    1. Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler births

      1. Sumo wrestler from Mongolia

        Takanoiwa Yoshimori

        Takanoiwa Yoshimori is a retired sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He made his professional debut in January 2009. He has both a sandanme and a jūryō division championship. He reached the jūryō division in July 2012 and the top makuuchi division for the first time in January 2014. He was the only wrestler recruited by former yokozuna Takanohana to reach the elite sekitori ranks. He was runner-up in one top division tournament and earned two special prizes, one for Fighting Spirit and one for Outstanding Performance. His highest rank was maegashira 2.

  24. 1989

    1. Gabriel Obertan, French footballer births

      1. French association football player

        Gabriel Obertan

        Gabriel Antoine Obertan is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for USL League One side Charlotte Independence.

    2. Roy Eldridge, American trumpet player (b. 1911) deaths

      1. American jazz trumpeter

        Roy Eldridge

        David Roy Eldridge, nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from the dominant style of jazz trumpet innovator Louis Armstrong, and his strong impact on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most influential musicians of the swing era and a precursor of bebop.

  25. 1986

    1. Hannah Kearney, American skier births

      1. American freestyle skier

        Hannah Kearney

        Hannah Angela Kearney is an American mogul skier who won a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

  26. 1985

    1. Fernando Llorente, Spanish international footballer births

      1. Spanish footballer

        Fernando Llorente

        Fernando Javier Llorente Torres, nicknamed El Rey León, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker.

    2. Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910) deaths

      1. American mathematician

        Tjalling Koopmans

        Tjalling Charles Koopmans was a Dutch-American mathematician and economist. He was the joint winner with Leonid Kantorovich of the 1975 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on the theory of the optimum allocation of resources. Koopmans showed that on the basis of certain efficiency criteria, it is possible to make important deductions concerning optimum price systems.

      2. Economics award

        Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

        The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is an economics award administered by the Nobel Foundation.

  27. 1984

    1. Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese international footballer births

      1. Togolese professional footballer

        Emmanuel Adebayor

        Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Togolese Championnat National club Semassi. He previously played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, as well as French side Metz, Monégasque team Monaco, Spanish team Real Madrid, Turkish clubs İstanbul Başakşehir and Kayserispor, and Paraguay's Club Olimpia.

    2. Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter births

      1. Mexican singer-songwriter

        Natalia Lafourcade

        María Natalia Lafourcade Silva is a Mexican pop-rock and folk singer and songwriter who, since her debut in 2002, has been one of the most successful singers in Latin America. Lafourcade's voice has been categorized as a lyric soprano.

    3. Beren Saat, Turkish actress births

      1. Turkish actress

        Beren Saat

        Beren Saat is a Turkish actress. Since the beginning of her career, she has received critical acclaim and numerous accolades for her acting. While studying at Başkent University, she participated in the acting competition Türkiye'nin Yıldızları and was discovered by Turkish director Tomris Giritlioğlu, launching her professional acting career.

  28. 1983

    1. Jerome Harrison, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1983)

        Jerome Harrison

        Jerome Harrison is a former American football running back who played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Washington State University, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft, and also played for the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles. A brain tumor ended his NFL career in 2011.

    2. Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer births

      1. Portuguese footballer

        Pepe (footballer, born 1983)

        Kepler Laveran de Lima Ferreira, known as Pepe, is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Porto and the Portugal national team. He is regarded as one of the best defenders of all time.

  29. 1982

    1. Li Na, Chinese tennis player births

      1. Chinese tennis player

        Li Na

        Li Na is a Chinese former professional tennis player.

    2. Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer births

      1. English cricketer

        Matt Prior

        Matthew James Prior is a South African-born English former cricketer, who played for England in Test cricket and for Sussex County Cricket Club in domestic cricket. He was a wicket-keeper and his aggressive right-handed batting enabled him to open the innings in ODI matches, even when he made very limited appearance in shorter forms of the game. With an international Test debut score of 126, Prior became the first English wicket-keeper to hit a century in his debut match in early 2007. His glovework, however, was criticised. Despite a successful tour of Sri Lanka with the bat, Prior's keeping was less successful, and he was dropped from the team for the 2008 tour of New Zealand. He returned for the 2008 series against South Africa, and was retained into 2009, where he became the second-fastest England keeper to reach 1,000 Test runs, behind Les Ames. He retired in June 2015 from all forms of professional cricket due to a recurring Achilles tendon injury.

    3. Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter births

      1. American musician, singer and songwriter

        Nate Ruess

        Nate Ruess is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder and lead singer of the indie pop band Fun, and of The Format. As of 2015, he also performs as a solo musician.

  30. 1981

    1. Kertus Davis, American race car driver births

      1. American racing driver

        Kertus Davis

        Kertus Davis is a NASCAR driver. He is currently the competition director for JD Motorsports.

    2. Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer births

      1. South Korean footballer

        Oh Seung-bum

        Oh Seung-bum is a former South Korean footballer, who played as midfielder for Gangwon FC in K League 1.

    3. Robert Aickman, English author and activist (b. 1914) deaths

      1. British writer and conservationist

        Robert Aickman

        Robert Fordyce Aickman was an English writer and conservationist. As a conservationist, he co-founded the Inland Waterways Association, a group which has preserved from destruction and restored England's inland canal system. As a writer, he is best known for his supernatural fiction, which he described as "strange stories".

    4. Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1896) deaths

      1. American composer and music theorist (1896–1981)

        Howard Hanson

        Howard Harold Hanson was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided opportunities for commissioning and performing American music. In 1944, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony No. 4, and received numerous other awards including the George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Entertainment in Music in 1946.

  31. 1980

    1. Steve Blake, American basketball player births

      1. American basketball player

        Steve Blake

        Steven Hanson Blake is an American professional basketball coach and former player. After winning the 2002 NCAA Championship with Maryland, Blake was selected by the Washington Wizards with the 38th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. Over his 13-year NBA career, Blake had stints with the Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, and three stints with the Portland Trail Blazers.

  32. 1979

    1. Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. English singer and songwriter

        Corinne Bailey Rae

        Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae is an English singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "Put Your Records On". Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2006. She released her debut album, Corinne Bailey Rae, in February 2006, and became the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at number one. In 2007, Bailey Rae was nominated for three Grammy Awards and three Brit Awards, and won two MOBO Awards. In 2008, she won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

    2. Steve Evans, Welsh footballer births

      1. Welsh football manager and footballer

        Steve Evans (footballer, born 1979)

        Steven James Evans is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer who is currently manager of Cymru North side Colwyn Bay.

    3. Pedro Mendes, Portuguese international footballer births

      1. Portuguese footballer and agent

        Pedro Mendes (footballer, born 1979)

        Pedro Miguel da Silva Mendes is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He works as a football agent.

  33. 1978

    1. Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer births

      1. Senegalese footballer

        Abdoulaye Faye

        Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, known as Abdoulaye Faye, is a Senegalese former footballer who played as a defender.

  34. 1977

    1. Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach births

      1. American ice hockey player

        Marty Reasoner

        Martin Ernest Reasoner is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islanders. He is currently in a player development coaching role within the New York Islanders organization.

    2. Tim Thomas, American basketball player births

      1. American basketball player (born 1977)

        Tim Thomas (basketball)

        Timothy Mark Thomas is an American former professional basketball player who played thirteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

    3. Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player births

      1. Wales and British Lions international rugby union player

        Shane Williams

        Shane Mark Williams, is a Welsh rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record try scorer for Wales, and is fourth on the international list of leading rugby union test try scorers behind Daisuke Ohata, Bryan Habana and David Campese. He is Wales's most capped winger and is considered to be one of the greatest wingers of all time.

  35. 1976

    1. Nalini Anantharaman, French mathematician births

      1. French mathematician

        Nalini Anantharaman

        Nalini Anantharaman is a French mathematician who has won major prizes including the Henri Poincaré Prize in 2012.

    2. Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. Musical artist

        Chadwick Stokes Urmston

        Chad (Chadwick) Stokes Urmston is an American musician and a human rights activist. He is the frontman for the Boston-area bands Dispatch and State Radio, and released solo music under the name Chadwick Stokes.

  36. 1974

    1. Sébastien Loeb, French racing driver births

      1. French racing driver

        Sébastien Loeb

        Sébastien Loeb is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He holds several other WRC records, including most event wins, most podium finishes and most stage wins. Loeb retired from full time WRC participation at the end of 2012. He currently drives part time in the WRC for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, full time in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) for Bahrain Raid Xtreme, and full time in the Extreme E Championship for Team X44.

    2. Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Filipina television actress, host and equestrienne births

      1. Filipino equestrianne, local television host and actress

        Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski

        Mikaela María Antonia "Mikee" de los Reyes Cojuangco-Jaworski is a Filipino sports official, equestrienne, model, former actress and television host. She was a gold medalist at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.

  37. 1973

    1. Marshall Faulk, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1973)

        Marshall Faulk

        Marshall William Faulk is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams. He played college football at San Diego State, where he was a two-time consensus All-American. He was selected by the Colts as the second overall in the 1994 NFL Draft, whom he was a member of for five seasons, before spending his last eight seasons with the Rams. Faulk was a member of the Greatest Show on Turf, a name given to the St. Louis Rams team that appeared in two Super Bowls and won Super Bowl XXXIV over the Tennessee Titans. In 2000, Faulk was named the Most Valuable Player of the NFL. Faulk is one of only three NFL players to reach at least 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards and the only one to amass 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving. He was also an analyst for various programs on the NFL Network until December 2017. Faulk was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time.

    2. Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager births

      1. Norwegian football manager and former player (born 1973)

        Ole Gunnar Solskjær

        Ole Gunnar Solskjær is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his career with Manchester United and also played 67 times for the Norway national team.

    3. Jenny Thompson, American swimmer births

      1. American swimmer

        Jenny Thompson

        Jennifer Beth Thompson is an American former competition swimmer and anesthesiologist.

  38. 1971

    1. Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress births

      1. American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress

        Erykah Badu

        Erica Abi Wright, known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut album Baduizm (1997), placed her at the forefront of the neo soul movement, earning her the honorific nickname "Queen of Neo Soul" by music critics.

    2. Max Martin, Swedish-American record producer and songwriter births

      1. Swedish record producer and songwriter

        Max Martin

        Karl Martin Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter. He rose to prominence in the late 1990s making a string of hit singles such as Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time" (1998), the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" (1999), Céline Dion's "That's the Way It Is" (1999) and NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me" (2000).

    3. Hélène Segara, French singer-songwriter and actress births

      1. French singer

        Hélène Ségara

        Hélène Ségara, born Hélène Aurore Alice Rizzo on 26 February 1971, is a singer of French, Armenian and Italian descent, who came to prominence playing the role of Esmeralda in the French musical Notre Dame de Paris. She has sold over 10 million records.

  39. 1970

    1. Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration births

      1. British Conservative politician

        Mark Harper

        Mark James Harper is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Transport since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Forest of Dean since 2005.

      2. Minister of State for Immigration

        The minister of state for immigration is a minister of state in the Home Office of the Government of the United Kingdom.

    2. Scott Mahon, Australian rugby league player births

      1. Australian rugby league footballer

        Scott Mahon

        Scott Mahon is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played most of his career at the Parramatta Eels, but he also played for Leigh Centurions, Salford City Reds, and the North Queensland Cowboys. He mostly played on the wing, but also played the occasional game at fullback, or centre.

  40. 1969

    1. Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer births

      1. Japanese composer (born 1969)

        Hitoshi Sakimoto

        Hitoshi Sakimoto is a Japanese video game music composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 80 other games. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began composing video game music for money by the time he was 16. Sakimoto's professional career began a few years later in 1988 when he started composing music professionally as a freelancer, as well as programming sound drivers for games.

    2. Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895) deaths

      1. Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 to 1969

        Levi Eshkol

        Levi Eshkol, born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik, was an Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous senior roles, including Minister of Defense (1963–1967) and Minister of Finance (1952–1963).

      2. Head of government of Israel

        Prime Minister of Israel

        The prime minister of Israel is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel.

    3. Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883) deaths

      1. Psychiatrist and philosopher (1883–1969)

        Karl Jaspers

        Karl Theodor Jaspers was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspers turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an innovative philosophical system. He was often viewed as a major exponent of existentialism in Germany, though he did not accept the label.

  41. 1968

    1. Tim Commerford, American bass player births

      1. American bassist

        Tim Commerford

        Tim Commerford is an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for rock band Rage Against the Machine, and supergroups Audioslave and Prophets of Rage. Since 2013 and 2015, he has also been the lead singer and bassist of the bands Future User and Wakrat.

  42. 1967

    1. Mark Carroll, Australian rugby league player births

      1. Australia international rugby league footballer

        Mark Carroll (rugby league)

        Mark "Spudd" Carroll is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 1980s and 1990s. He represented Australia internationally and New South Wales in State of Origin, and played club football in Australia for the Penrith Panthers, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and in England for the London Broncos.

    2. Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer births

      1. Japanese oldest professional association footballer in the world

        Kazuyoshi Miura

        Kazuyoshi Miura , often known simply as Kazu, is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Suzuka Point Getters on loan from Yokohama FC.

    3. Gene Principe, Canadian sports reporter and broadcaster births

      1. Canadian sports reporter and broadcaster

        Gene Principe

        Eugenio Principe is a Canadian sports reporter and broadcaster, who is the current host of Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on Sportsnet. He is best known for his frequent use of puns and props during his pre-game segments.

      2. Form of journalism that reports on sporting topics and competitions

        Sports journalism

        Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the news business with newspapers having dedicated sports sections. The increased popularity of sports amongst the middle and lower class led to the more coverage of sports content in publications. The appetite for sports resulted in sports-only media such as Sports Illustrated and ESPN. There are many different forms of sports journalism, ranging from play-by-play and game recaps to analysis and investigative journalism on important developments in the sport. Technology and the internet age has massively changed the sports journalism space as it is struggling with the same problems that the broader category of print journalism is struggling with, mainly not being able to cover costs due to falling subscriptions. New forms of internet blogging and tweeting in the current millennium have pushed the boundaries of sports journalism.

  43. 1966

    1. Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti births

      1. Garry Conille

        Dr. Garry Conille is a Haitian academic, development worker, author, and former Prime Minister of Haiti. He submitted his resignation as prime minister on 24 February 2012, and was officially succeeded by Laurent Lamothe on 16 May 2012.

      2. Prime Minister of Haiti

        The prime minister of Haiti is the head of government of Haiti. The office was created under the 1987 Constitution; previously, all executive power was held by the president or head of state, who appointed and chaired the Council of Ministers. The current prime minister of Haiti is Ariel Henry, who was sworn into office on 20 July 2021.

    2. Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player births

      1. Canadian retired ice hockey centre

        Marc Fortier

        Marc Fortier is a Canadian former ice hockey centre. Fortier played in the National Hockey League for the Quebec Nordiques, Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings.

    3. Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer births

      1. Lebanese singer and actress

        Najwa Karam

        Najwa Karam is a Lebanese singer, songwriter, producer, fashion icon, one of the best selling recording artist in the middle east with more than 60 million records worldwide. Known as the "Sun of Lebanese and Arabic Music", she has created her style which blends traditional and contemporary Arabic music and has helped spread the Lebanese dialect in Arabic music. Najwa Karam was the highest-selling Middle Eastern artist in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2011, and 2017. She is known for her Mawwal vocals and has gained an international audience due to her distinct blend of traditional Lebanese music and contemporary sounds.

    4. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (b. 1883) deaths

      1. Indian revolutionary, politician, activist, historian and writer (1883–1966)

        Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

        Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (pronunciation  , Marathi pronunciation: [ʋinaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ]; also commonly known as Veer Savarkar, was an Indian politician, activist, and writer.

  44. 1965

    1. James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager births

      1. American professional wrestling manager (born 1966)

        Father James Mitchell

        James Lamar Mitchell is an American professional wrestling manager, known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as James Vandenberg, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as The Sinister Minister, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under his own name.

  45. 1963

    1. Chase Masterson, American actress, singer, and activist births

      1. American actress, singer

        Chase Masterson

        Chase Masterson is an American actress and singer.

  46. 1962

    1. Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician births

      1. South Korean politician, medical doctor, businessperson and software entrepreneur

        Ahn Cheol-soo

        Ahn Cheol-soo is a South Korean politician, medical doctor, businessperson, and software entrepreneur. He currently serves as a member of the National Assembly as part of the conservative People Power Party.

  47. 1961

    1. Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (b. 1878) deaths

      1. German sculptor

        Karl Albiker

        Karl Albiker was a German sculptor, lithographer and teacher of fine arts. Albiker studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris. From 1919 to 1945 he was a professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. His monumental statues, like those of Georg Kolbe, reflected National Socialist heroic realism. Albiker created the relay racers for Berlin's Reich Sports Field and various war monuments, including those in Karlsruhe, Freiburg im Breisgau, and Greiz.

    2. Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909) deaths

      1. Ruler of Morocco (1927–1953; 1955–1961)

        Mohammed V of Morocco

        Mohammed al-Khamis bin Yusef bin Hassan al-Alawi, also known as Sidi Mohammed bin Yusef or Mohammed V, was Sultan of Morocco from 1927 to 1953; he was recognized as Sultan again upon his return from exile in 1955, and as King from 1957 to 1961. Upon the death of his father, Yusef bin Hassan, he succeeded to the throne. He was a member of the 'Alawi dynasty.

  48. 1960

    1. Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer births

      1. English musician

        Jaz Coleman

        Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke.

  49. 1959

    1. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey births

      1. 26th Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey from 2014 to 2016

        Ahmet Davutoğlu

        Ahmet Davutoğlu is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2014 and chief advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from 2003 to 2009. He was elected as an AKP Member of Parliament for Konya in the 2011 general election and was reelected as an MP in both the June and November 2015 general elections. He resigned as Prime Minister on 22 May 2016.

      2. Head of government of the Republic of Turkey (1920–2018)

        Prime Minister of Turkey

        The prime minister of the Republic of Turkey was the head of government of the Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Turkish Parliament and presided over the cabinet. Throughout the political history of Turkey, functions and powers of the post have changed occasionally. Prior to its dissolution as a result of the 2017 Constitutional Referendum, the prime minister was generally the dominant figure in Turkish politics, outweighing the president.

  50. 1958

    1. Greg Germann, American actor and director births

      1. American actor (born 1958)

        Greg Germann

        Gregory Andrew Germann is an American actor who is known for playing Richard Fish on the television series Ally McBeal, which earned him a Screen Actors Guild award. He also is known for his roles as Eric "Rico" Morrow on the sitcom Ned & Stacey, Tom Koracick in Grey’s Anatomy and as Hades in Season Five of Once Upon a Time.

    2. Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut births

      1. Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force and a former NASA astronaut

        Susan Helms

        Susan Jane Helms is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant general and NASA astronaut. She was the commander, 14th Air Force ; and commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

    3. Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia births

      1. American lawyer and politician (born 1958)

        Tim Kaine

        Timothy Michael Kaine is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006 and 70th governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. Kaine was the Democratic nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2016 election as Hillary Clinton's running mate.

      2. Chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia

        Governor of Virginia

        The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022.

  51. 1957

    1. David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina births

      1. American politician and official

        David Beasley

        David Muldrow Beasley is an American politician and the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme. A member of the Republican Party, he served one term as the 113th Governor of South Carolina from 1995 until 1999 before losing reelection to Democrat Jim Hodges. He also served as a state representative from 1981 until 1995.

      2. Head of state and of government of the U.S. state of South Carolina

        Governor of South Carolina

        The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ex officio commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the South Carolina General Assembly, submitting an executive budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced.

    2. Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer births

      1. American swimmer

        Keena Rothhammer

        Keena Ruth Rothhammer is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.

  52. 1956

    1. Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director births

      1. French writer (born 1956)

        Michel Houellebecq

        Michel Houellebecq is a French author, known for his novels, poems and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer.

  53. 1955

    1. Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service births

      1. Austrian historian

        Andreas Maislinger

        Andreas Maislinger is an Austrian historian and political scientist and founder and chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad, including the Gedenkdienst, the Austrian Social Service and the Austrian Peace Service. He also is the founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award, the Braunau Contemporary History Days and the inventor of the idea of the House of Responsibility regarding the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.

      2. Gedenkdienst

        Gedenkdienst is the concept of facing and taking responsibility for the darkest chapters of one's own country's history while ideally being financially supported by one's own country's government to do so. Founded in Austria in 1992 by Andreas Maislinger the Gedenkdienst is an alternative to Austria's compulsory national military service as well as a volunteering platform for Austrians to work in Holocaust- and Jewish culture-related institutions around the world with governmental financial support. In Austria it is also referred to as Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service provided by the Austrian Service Abroad. The Austrian Gedenkdienst serves the remembrance of the crimes of Nazism, commemorates its victims and supports Jewish cultural future. The program is rooted in the acknoledgment of responsibility by the Austrian government for the crimes committed by National Socialism.

  54. 1954

    1. Prince Ernst August of Hanover births

      1. Head of the House of Hanover

        Prince Ernst August of Hanover (born 1954)

        Prince Ernst August of Hanover is the head of the royal House of Hanover, members of which reigned in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1901, the Kingdom of Hanover until 1866, and the Duchy of Brunswick from 1913 to 1918. As the husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, he is the brother-in-law of Albert II, Prince of Monaco.

    2. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey births

      1. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

        Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as president in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration.

      2. Head of state and head of government of Turkey

        President of Turkey

        The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Turkey, is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Turkish military. The president also heads the National Security Council.

  55. 1953

    1. Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor births

      1. American singer-songwriter (born 1953)

        Michael Bolton

        Michael Bolotin, known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those he recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. He became better known for his series of pop rock ballads, recorded after a stylistic change in the late 1980s.

    2. Barbara Niven, American actress and writer births

      1. American actress

        Barbara Niven

        Barbara Lee Niven is an American actress, writer and producer, best known for her performances in Hallmark and Lifetime movies, and for television roles in Pensacola: Wings of Gold, One Life to Live, Cedar Cove, and Chesapeake Shores. Niven had the leading role in the independent film A Perfect Ending (2012). She is also a motivational speaker, media trainer and animal rights activist, and a National Ambassador for American Humane.

  56. 1952

    1. Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (b. 1878) deaths

      1. Early 20th-century Greek general, politician, and dictator (ruled 1925-26)

        Theodoros Pangalos (general)

        Lieutenant General Theodoros Pangalos was a Greek general, politician and dictator. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the September 1922 revolt that deposed King Constantine I and in the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic. In June 1925 Pangalos staged a bloodless coup, and his assumption of power was recognized by the National Assembly which named him Prime Minister. As a "constitutional dictator" he ruled the country until his overthrow in August 1926. From April 1926 until his deposition, he also occupied the office of President of the Republic.

      2. Head of state of Greece

        President of Greece

        The president of Greece, officially the President of the Hellenic Republic, commonly referred to in Greek as the President of the Republic, is the head of state of Greece. The president is elected by the Hellenic Parliament; the role has been mainly ceremonial since the 1986 constitutional reform. The office was formally established by the Constitution of Greece in 1975, but has antecedents in the Second Hellenic Republic of 1924–1935 and the Greek junta in 1973–1974 which predated the transition to the current Third Hellenic Republic. The incumbent, since 13 March 2020, is Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

  57. 1951

    1. Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014) births

      1. Australian politician

        Wayne Goss

        Wayne Keith Goss was Premier of Queensland from 7 December 1989 until 19 February 1996, becoming the first Labor Premier of the state in over thirty two years. Prior to entering politics, Goss was a solicitor, and after leaving politics he served as Chairman of the Queensland Art Gallery and Chairman of Deloitte Australia.

      2. Premier of Queensland

        The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland.

    2. Sabiha Kasimati, Albanian ichthyologist (b. 1912) executed with 20 others deaths

      1. Albanian ichthyologist

        Sabiha Kasimati

        Sabiha Kasimati was an Albanian professor of biology and ichthyologist, cited as one of the first women scientists in Albania. She was arrested by the communist regime on 20 February 1951, after the bombing of the Soviet embassy, and a few days later was executed without trial along with 21 other intellectuals.

      2. 1951 executions in Albania

        The People's Republic of Albania executed 22 intellectuals without trial on 26 February 1951, as ordered by Enver Hoxha. They were accused of bombing the Soviet embassy in Tirana. The victims were 21 males and one female. One day earlier, Jonuz Kaceli was killed while accused of the same crime. It was the first time the Agitation and Propaganda law was used.

  58. 1950

    1. Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer births

      1. American musician

        Jonathan Cain

        Jonathan Leonard Friga, known professionally as Jonathan Cain, is an American musician and songwriter best known as the keyboardist for Journey. He has also worked with the Babys and Bad English. Cain was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Journey in 2017. He also maintains a solo career as a contemporary Christian artist.

    2. Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand births

      1. Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008

        Helen Clark

        Helen Elizabeth Clark is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was New Zealand's fifth-longest-serving prime minister, and the second woman to hold that office.

      2. Head of Government of New Zealand

        Prime Minister of New Zealand

        The prime minister of New Zealand is the head of government of New Zealand. The incumbent prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017.

    3. Harry Lauder, Scottish comedian and singer (b. 1870) deaths

      1. Scottish entertainer (1870–1950)

        Harry Lauder

        Sir Henry Lauder was a Scottish singer and comedian popular in both music hall and vaudeville theatre traditions; he achieved international success.

  59. 1949

    1. Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts births

      1. Australian politician

        Simon Crean

        Simon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was the Member of Parliament for Hotham from 1990 to 2013, representing the Labor Party, and served as a Cabinet Minister in the Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard Governments. He was the Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2001 to December 2003.

      2. Australian cabinet position

        Minister for the Arts (Australia)

        The Australian Minister for the Arts is responsible for creative industries and culture. It is currently held by Tony Burke in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022.

    2. Elizabeth George, American author and educator births

      1. American female mystery and thriller writer

        Elizabeth George

        Susan Elizabeth George is an American writer of mystery novels set in Great Britain.

    3. Emma Kirkby, English soprano births

      1. English soprano (born 1949)

        Emma Kirkby

        Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings.

  60. 1948

    1. Sharyn McCrumb, American author births

      1. American writer (born 1948)

        Sharyn McCrumb

        Sharyn McCrumb is an American writer whose books celebrate the history and folklore of Appalachia. McCrumb is the winner of numerous literary awards, and the author of the Elizabeth McPherson mystery series, the Ballad series, and the St. Dale series.

  61. 1947

    1. Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist births

      1. English pop singer (born 1947)

        Sandie Shaw

        Sandie Shaw, is an English singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (1964), "Long Live Love" (1965) and "Puppet on a String" (1967). With the latter, she became the first British entry to win the Eurovision Song Contest. She returned to the UK Top 40, for the first time in 15 years, with her 1984 cover of the Smiths song "Hand in Glove". Shaw retired from the music industry in 2013.

    2. Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (b. 1868) deaths

      1. Heinrich Häberlin

        Heinrich Häberlin was a Swiss politician, judge and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1920–1934).

      2. List of presidents of the National Council of Switzerland

        The President of the National Council of Switzerland presides over the National Council and Federal Assembly. The National Council President is often colloquially referred to as the "highest Swiss person", as the highest ranking person subject to the people's vote. However, this is an honorary title and the president is not the head of state. The head of state is the Federal Council). In the official order of precedence, she or he ranks behind the members of the Federal Council, but ahead of the President of the Swiss Council of States.

  62. 1946

    1. Colin Bell, English footballer (d. 2021) births

      1. English professional footballer (1946–2021)

        Colin Bell (footballer, born 1946)

        Colin Bell was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Bell known for his thirteen-year spell at Manchester City, he is regarded as one of the club's greatest-ever players, and was part of the Bell–Lee–Summerbee trio in the late 1960s and 1970s. Bell made forty-eight appearances for the England national football team; he was an unused squad member at UEFA Euro 1968 and played in three matches at the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

    2. Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016) births

      1. Egyptian-American scientist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient

        Ahmed Zewail

        Ahmed Hassan Zewail was an Egyptian-American chemist, known as the "father of femtochemistry". He was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry and became the first Egyptian to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field, and the second African to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was the Linus Pauling Chair Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Physics, and the director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology at the California Institute of Technology.

      2. One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Chemistry

        The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on proposal of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry which consists of five members elected by the Academy. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.

  63. 1945

    1. Peter Brock, Australian racing driver (d. 2006) births

      1. Australian racing driver

        Peter Brock

        Peter Geoffrey Brock, known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other manufacturers including BMW, Ford, Volvo, Porsche and Peugeot. He won the Bathurst 1000 endurance race nine times, the Sandown 500 touring car race nine times, the Australian Touring Car Championship three times, the Bathurst 24 Hour once and was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2001. Brock's business activities included the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) that produced Brock's racing machines as well as a number of modified high-performance road versions of his racing cars.

    2. Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress births

      1. Norwegian-born American actress

        Marta Kristen

        Marta Kristen is a Norwegian-born American actress.

    3. Sándor Szurmay, Minister of Defence of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary (b. 1860) deaths

      1. Sándor Szurmay

        Vitéz Baron Sándor Szurmay de Uzsok was a Hungarian military officer and politician, who served as Minister of Defence for the Hungarian portion of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary between 1917 and 1918.

  64. 1944

    1. Christopher Hope, South African author and poet births

      1. South African novelist and poet (born 1944)

        Christopher Hope (novelist)

        Christopher Hope, FRSL is a South African novelist and poet who is known for his controversial works dealing with racism and politics in South Africa. His son is violinist Daniel Hope.

    2. Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria births

      1. American businessman (born 1944)

        Ronald Lauder

        Ronald (Ron) Steven Lauder is an American businessman, billionaire, philanthropist, art collector, and political activist. He is the President of the World Jewish Congress since 2007. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, are the sole heirs to the Estée Lauder cosmetics company, founded by their parents, Estée Lauder and Joseph Lauder, in 1946. According to Forbes, Lauder has a net worth of $4.5 billion dollars as of Sept. 2022

      2. List of ambassadors of the United States to Austria

        This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Austria.

  65. 1943

    1. Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2021) births

      1. American guitarist (1943–2021)

        Paul Cotton

        Norman Paul Cotton was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was a member of the band Poco and the writer of their international hit song "Heart of the Night". Before that, he was co-guitarist for the Illinois Speed Press.

    2. Bill Duke, American actor and director births

      1. American actor and director

        Bill Duke

        William Henry Duke Jr. is an American actor and film director. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke works primarily in the action and crime drama genres often as a character related to law enforcement. Frequently a character actor, he has starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando and Predator, and has appeared in films like American Gigolo, No Man's Land, Bird on a Wire, Menace II Society, Exit Wounds, Payback, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Mandy. In television, he is best known as Agent Percy Odell in Black Lightning.

    3. Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer births

      1. Italian production designer

        Dante Ferretti

        Dante Ferretti is an Italian production designer, art director, and costume designer.

    4. Bob "The Bear" Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1981) births

      1. American songwriter

        Bob Hite

        Robert Ernest Hite was the co-lead vocalist of the American blues and rock band Canned Heat, from 1965 to his death in 1981. His nickname was "The Bear".

    5. Theodor Eicke, German general (b. 1892) deaths

      1. German Concentration Camps Inspector and Waffen-SS commander

        Theodor Eicke

        Theodor Eicke was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the second commandant of the Dachau concentration camp from June 1933 to July 1934, and together with his adjutant Michael Lippert, was one of the executioners of SA Chief Ernst Röhm during the Night of the Long Knives purge of 1934. He continued to expand and develop the concentration camp system and was the first Concentration Camps Inspector. In 1939, Eicke became commander of the SS Division Totenkopf of the Waffen-SS, leading the division during the Second World War on the Western and Eastern fronts. Eicke was killed on 26 February 1943, when his plane was shot down during the Third Battle of Kharkov.

  66. 1942

    1. Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager (d. 2018) births

      1. Slovak footballer and manager

        Jozef Adamec

        Jozef Adamec was a Slovak football forward and manager.

  67. 1940

    1. Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (d. 2013) births

      1. Oldřich Kulhánek

        Oldřich Kulhánek was a Czech painter, graphic designer, illustrator, stage designer and pedagogue. Kulhánek created the design for the current Czech banknotes and postage stamps.

  68. 1939

    1. Chuck Wepner, American professional boxer births

      1. American boxer

        Chuck Wepner

        Charles Wepner is an American former professional boxer. He fell just nineteen seconds short of a full fifteen rounds against world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 championship fight. Wepner also scored notable wins over Randy Neumann and former world heavyweight champion Ernie Terrell. He was also the last man to fight former undisputed world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.

  69. 1937

    1. Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011) births

      1. American football player (1937–2011)

        Paul Dickson (American football)

        Paul Serafin Dickson was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, and St. Louis Cardinals. He played college football for Baylor University.

  70. 1936

    1. José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (d. 2014) births

      1. José Policarpo

        José da Cruz Policarpo, GCC, officially referred to as José IV, Patriarch of Lisbon, though usually referred to as "D. José Policarpo", was Patriarch of Lisbon from 24 March 1998 to 18 May 2013. Pope John Paul II made him a Cardinal in 2001. Policarpo held a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

    2. February 26 Incident: deaths

      1. Japanese politician (1854–1936)

        Takahashi Korekiyo

        Viscount Takahashi Korekiyo was a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Peers, as Prime Minister of Japan from 1921 to 1922, and as the head of the Bank of Japan and Ministry of Finance.

      2. Head of government of Japan

        Prime Minister of Japan

        The prime minister of Japan is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of State. The prime minister also serves as the civilian commander-in-chief of the Japan Self Defence Forces and as a sitting member of the House of Representatives. The individual is appointed by the emperor of Japan after being nominated by the National Diet and must retain the nomination of the lower house and answer to parliament to remain in office.

    3. February 26 Incident: deaths

      1. Japanese naval officer and politician (1858–1936)

        Saitō Makoto

        Viscount Saitō Makoto, GCB was a Japanese naval officer and politician. Upon distinguishing himself during his command of two cruisers in the First Sino-Japanese War, Saitō rose rapidly to the rank of rear admiral by 1900. He was promoted to vice admiral during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. After serving as Minister of the Navy from 1906 to 1914, Saitō held the position of Governor-General of Korea from 1919 to 1927 and again from 1929 to 1931. When Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated in May 1932, he took his place as prime minister and served one term in office. Saitō returned to public service as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal in February 1935 but was assassinated only a year later during the February 26 Incident. Saitō was the last former prime minister to be assassinated until 2022, with the assassination of Shinzo Abe.

      2. Head of government of Japan

        Prime Minister of Japan

        The prime minister of Japan is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of State. The prime minister also serves as the civilian commander-in-chief of the Japan Self Defence Forces and as a sitting member of the House of Representatives. The individual is appointed by the emperor of Japan after being nominated by the National Diet and must retain the nomination of the lower house and answer to parliament to remain in office.

    4. February 26 Incident: deaths

      1. Jōtarō Watanabe

        Jōtarō Watanabe was a general in the early Shōwa period Imperial Japanese Army, noted as one of the victims of the February 26 Incident.

  71. 1934

    1. Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter births

      1. Algerian film director and screenwriter

        Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina

        Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina is an Algerian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1975 film Chronicle of the Years of Fire. He is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Arabic cinema.

  72. 1933

    1. James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (d. 1997) births

      1. Anglo-French billionaire financier and tycoon

        James Goldsmith

        Sir James Michael Goldsmith was a French-British financier, tycoon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family.

  73. 1932

    1. Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003) births

      1. American singer-songwriter (1932–2003)

        Johnny Cash

        John R. Cash was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band characterized by train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark all-black stage wardrobe which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black".

  74. 1931

    1. Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004) births

      1. Scottish footballer and manager

        Ally MacLeod

        Alistair Reid "Ally" MacLeod was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is perhaps best known for his time as the Scotland national football team manager, including their appearance at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. MacLeod played as a left winger for Third Lanark, St Mirren, Blackburn Rovers, Hibernian and Ayr United. He then managed Ayr United, Aberdeen, Scotland, Motherwell, Airdrieonians and Queen of the South.

    2. Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009) births

      1. American journalist and columnist (1931–2009)

        Robert Novak

        Robert David Sanders Novak was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for The Wall Street Journal. He teamed up with Rowland Evans in 1963 to start Inside Report, which became the longest running syndicated political column in U.S. history and ran in hundreds of papers. They also started the Evans-Novak Political Report, a notable biweekly newsletter, in 1967.

    3. Josephine Tewson, English actress (d. 2022) births

      1. British actress (1931–2022)

        Josephine Tewson

        Josephine Ann Tewson was an English actress, best known for her roles in British television sitcoms, such as Edna Hawkins in Shelley, Elizabeth "Liz" Warden in Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995), and Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine (2003–2010).

    4. Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847) deaths

      1. German chemist (1847–1931)

        Otto Wallach

        Otto Wallach was a German chemist and recipient of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on alicyclic compounds.

      2. One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Chemistry

        The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on proposal of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry which consists of five members elected by the Academy. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.

  75. 1930

    1. Mary Whiton Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (b. 1863) deaths

      1. American psychologist & scholar

        Mary Whiton Calkins

        Mary Whiton Calkins was an American philosopher and psychologist, whose work informed theory and research of memory, dreams and the self. In 1903, Calkins was the twelfth in a listing of fifty psychologists with the most merit, chosen by her peers. Calkins was refused a Ph.D. by Harvard University because of her gender.

  76. 1928

    1. Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2017) births

      1. American pianist and singer (1928–2017)

        Fats Domino

        Antoine Dominique Domino Jr., known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orleans to a French Creole family, Domino signed to Imperial Records in 1949. His first single "The Fat Man" is cited by some historians as the first rock and roll single and the first to sell more than 1 million copies. Domino continued to work with the song's co-writer Dave Bartholomew, contributing his distinctive rolling piano style to Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (1952) and scoring a string of mainstream hits beginning with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955). Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 US pop hits. By 1955, five of his records had sold more than a million copies, being certified gold.

    2. Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014) births

      1. Prime Minister of Israel from 2001 to 2006

        Ariel Sharon

        Ariel Sharon was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.

      2. Head of government of Israel

        Prime Minister of Israel

        The prime minister of Israel is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel.

  77. 1927

    1. Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor (d. 2020) births

      1. American game show host (1927–2020)

        Tom Kennedy (television host)

        James Edward Narz, known professionally as Tom Kennedy, was an American television host best known for his work in game shows. Game shows Kennedy hosted included Password Plus, Split Second, Name That Tune, and You Don't Say!

  78. 1926

    1. Doris Belack, American actress (d. 2011) births

      1. American actress (1926-2011)

        Doris Belack

        Doris Belack was an American character actress of stage, film and television.

    2. Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (d. 2015) births

      1. American professional wrestler and football player (1926–2015)

        Verne Gagne

        Laverne Clarence Gagne was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association (AWA), the predominant promotion throughout the Midwest and Manitoba for many years. He remained in this position until 1991, when the company folded.

  79. 1925

    1. Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee (d. 2020) births

      1. West Indian cricketer

        Everton Weekes

        Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE was a cricketer from Barbados. A right-handed batsman, he was known as one of the hardest hitters in world cricket. Weekes holds the record for consecutive Test hundreds, with five. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of the West Indies cricket team. Weekes played in 48 Test matches for the West Indies cricket team from 1948 to 1958. He continued to play first-class cricket until 1964, surpassing 12,000 first-class runs in his final innings. As a coach he was in charge of the Canadian team at the 1979 Cricket World Cup, and he was also a commentator and international match referee.

  80. 1924

    1. Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000) births

      1. Japanese politician

        Noboru Takeshita

        Noboru Takeshita was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989 during the bubble economy.

      2. Head of government of Japan

        Prime Minister of Japan

        The prime minister of Japan is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of State. The prime minister also serves as the civilian commander-in-chief of the Japan Self Defence Forces and as a sitting member of the House of Representatives. The individual is appointed by the emperor of Japan after being nominated by the National Diet and must retain the nomination of the lower house and answer to parliament to remain in office.

    2. Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (d. 2002) births

      1. American classical composer

        Mark Bucci

        Mark Bucci was an American composer, lyricist, and dramatist. Influenced by Giacomo Puccini, his work is composed in a contemporary yet lyrical style, which frequently employs marked rhythms and memorable harmonies and melodies.

  81. 1922

    1. Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007) births

      1. Australian cricketer (1922–2007)

        Bill Johnston (cricketer)

        William Arras Johnston was an Australian cricketer who played in forty Test matches from 1947 to 1955. A left arm pace bowler, as well as a left arm orthodox spinner, Johnston was best known as a spearhead of Don Bradman's undefeated 1948 touring team, well known as "The Invincibles". Johnston headed the wicket-taking lists in both Test and first-class matches on the tour, and was the last Australian to take over 100 wickets on a tour of England. In recognition of his performances, he was named by Wisden as one of its Cricketers of the Year in 1949. The publication stated that "no Australian made a greater personal contribution to the playing success of the 1948 side". Regarded by Bradman as Australia's greatest-ever left-arm bowler, Johnston was noted for his endurance in bowling pace with the new ball and spin when the ball had worn. He became the fastest bowler to reach 100 Test wickets in 1951–52, at the time averaging less than nineteen with the ball. By the end of the season, he had played 24 Tests and contributed 111 wickets. Australia won nineteen and lost only two of these Tests. In 1953, a knee injury forced him to remodel his bowling action, and he became less effective before retiring after aggravating the injury in 1955. In retirement, he worked in sales and marketing, and later ran his own businesses. He had two sons, one of whom became a cricket administrator. Johnston died at the age of 85 on 25 May 2007.

    2. Margaret Leighton, English actress (d. 1976) births

      1. British actress (1922–1976)

        Margaret Leighton

        Margaret Leighton, CBE was an English actress, active on stage and television, and in film. Her film appearances included in Anatole de Grunwald's The Winslow Boy (1948). For The Go-Between (1971), she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

  82. 1921

    1. Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007) births

      1. American actress (1921–2007)

        Betty Hutton

        Betty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer.

    2. Carl Menger, Polish-Austrian economist and academic (b. 1840) deaths

      1. Founder of the Austrian School of economics (1840–1921)

        Carl Menger

        Carl Menger von Wolfensgrün was an Austrian economist and the founder of the Austrian School of economics. Menger contributed to the development of the theories of marginalism and marginal utility, which rejected cost-of-production theory of value, such as developed by the classical economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo. As a departure from such, he would go on to call his resultant perspective, the subjective theory of value.

  83. 1920

    1. Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (d. 2005) births

      1. American baseball player (1920-2005)

        Danny Gardella

        Daniel Lewis Gardella was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Giants (1944–45) and St. Louis Cardinals (1950). Born in New York City, he batted and threw left-handed. He is known as one of the handful of American Major League players who "jumped" their organized baseball teams to play in the "outlaw" Mexican League in 1946.

    2. Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004) births

      1. American actor

        Tony Randall

        Anthony Leonard Randall was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play The Odd Couple by Neil Simon. In a career spanning six decades, Randall received six Golden Globe Award nominations and six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning one Emmy.

    3. Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 2006) births

      1. Lucjan Wolanowski

        Lucjan Wilhelm Wolanowski, pseudonyms: Wilk; Waldemar Mruczkowski; W. Lucjański; (L.W.); lu; Lu; (lw); WOL., Polish journalist, writer and traveller.

  84. 1919

    1. Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005) births

      1. American actor

        Mason Adams

        Mason Adams was an American character actor and voiceover artist. From the late 1940s until the early 1970s, he was heard in numerous radio programs and voiceovers for countless television commercials, the latter of which he resumed in the 1980s and 1990s. In the early '70s, he moved into acting and from 1977 to 1983 held perhaps his best-known role, that of Managing Editor Charlie Hume on Lou Grant. He also acted in numerous other television and movie roles, most prominently Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981) and F/X (1986).

  85. 1918

    1. Otis Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (d. 2013) births

      1. American politician

        Otis Bowen

        Otis Ray Bowen was an American politician and physician who served as the 44th Governor of Indiana from 1973 to 1981 and as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1989.

      2. American politician

        Governor of Indiana

        The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the State of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide executive officers, who manage other state government agencies. The governor works out of the Indiana Statehouse and holds official functions at the Indiana Governor's Residence in the state capital of Indianapolis.

    2. Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus (d. 1980) births

      1. Soviet Belarusian resistance leader and politician (1919-1980)

        Pyotr Masherov

        Pyotr Mironovich Masherov was a Soviet partisan, statesman, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during World War II who governed the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia from 1965 until his death in 1980. Under Masherov's rule, Belarus was transformed from an agrarian, undeveloped nation which had not yet recovered from the Second World War into an industrial powerhouse; Minsk, the capital and largest city of Belarus, became one of the fastest-growing cities on the planet. Masherov ruled until his sudden death in 1980, after his vehicle was hit by a potato truck.

      2. Republic of the Soviet Union

        Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

        The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, also commonly referred to in English as Byelorussia, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922, and from 1922 to 1991 as one of fifteen constituent republics of the USSR, with its own legislation from 1990 to 1991. The republic was ruled by the Communist Party of Byelorussia and was also referred to as Soviet Byelorussia by a number of historians. Other names for Byelorussia included White Russian Soviet Socialist Republic and Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

    3. Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (d. 1985) births

      1. American speculative fiction writer

        Theodore Sturgeon

        Theodore Sturgeon was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 short stories, 11 novels and several scripts for Star Trek: The Original Series.

  86. 1916

    1. Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987) births

      1. American actor, comedian and musician (1916–1987)

        Jackie Gleason

        John Herbert Gleason was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy, exemplified by his city-bus-driver character Ralph Kramden in the television series The Honeymooners. He also developed The Jackie Gleason Show, which maintained high ratings from the mid 1950s through 1970. After originating in New York City, filming moved to Miami Beach, Florida, in 1964 after Gleason took up permanent residence there.

  87. 1914

    1. Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986) births

      1. Italian-American actor

        Robert Alda

        Robert Alda was an Italian-American theatrical and film actor, a singer, and a dancer. He was the father of actors Alan and Antony Alda. Alda was featured in a number of Broadway productions, then moved to Italy during the early 1960s. He appeared in many European films over the next two decades, occasionally returning to the U.S. for film appearances such as The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969).

  88. 1913

    1. Felix Draeseke, German composer and academic (b. 1835) deaths

      1. Felix Draeseke

        Felix August Bernhard Draeseke was a composer of the "New German School" admiring Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. He wrote compositions in most forms including eight operas and stage works, four symphonies, and much vocal and chamber music.

  89. 1911

    1. Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (d. 1996) births

      1. Japanese artist (1911–1996)

        Tarō Okamoto

        Tarō Okamoto was a Japanese artist, art theorist, and writer. He is particularly well known for his avant-garde paintings and public sculptures and murals, and for his theorization of traditional Japanese culture and avant-garde artistic practices.

  90. 1910

    1. Vic Woodley, English footballer (d. 1978) births

      1. English footballer and manager

        Vic Woodley

        Victor Robert Woodley was an English football goalkeeper who played for Chelsea was an FA Cup Winner with Derby County and the England national team between the wars.

  91. 1909

    1. Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994) births

      1. Restaurant critic, television celebrity cook and writer from England

        Fanny Cradock

        Phyllis Nan Sortain Pechey, better known as Fanny Cradock, was an English restaurant critic, television chef and writer. She frequently appeared on television, at cookery demonstrations and in print with her fourth husband Major Johnnie Cradock who played the part of a slightly bumbling hen-pecked partner.

    2. Talal of Jordan (d. 1972) births

      1. King of Jordan from 1951 to 1952

        Talal of Jordan

        Talal bin Abdullah was King of Jordan from the assassination of his father, King Abdullah I, on 20 July 1951 until his forced abdication on 11 August 1952. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Talal was a 39th-generation direct descendant of Muhammad.

  92. 1908

    1. Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980) births

      1. American animator and director

        Tex Avery

        Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, and George and Junior.

    2. Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (d. 1971) births

      1. Mexican tenor

        Nestor Mesta Chayres

        Néstor Mesta Cháyres was an acclaimed tenor in Mexico and a noted interpreter of Spanish songs, boleros and Mexican romantic music on the international concert stage. He was widely commended for his artistic renditions of the works of Agustín Lara and María Grever and was nicknamed "El Gitano de México".

    3. Jean-Pierre Wimille, French racing driver (d. 1949) births

      1. Jean-Pierre Wimille

        Jean-Pierre Wimille was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.

  93. 1906

    1. Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987) births

      1. English actress (1906–1987)

        Madeleine Carroll

        Edith Madeleine Carroll was an English actress, popular both in Britain and America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress.

    2. Jean Lanfray, Swiss convicted murderer (b. 1874) deaths

      1. Jean Lanfray

        Jean Lanfray, a labourer who was French by birth but living in Switzerland, was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and two children in a drunken rage on the afternoon of 28 August 1905 in Commugny, Switzerland. It was later revealed by police that he had drunk an excessive amount of wine and hard liquors that morning, along with two ounces of absinthe. However, due to the moral panic against absinthe in Europe at that time, his murders were blamed solely on the influence of absinthe, leading to a petition to ban absinthe in Switzerland shortly after the murders. The petition received 82,000 signatures and absinthe was banned in Vaud shortly thereafter. A 1908 constitutional referendum led to absinthe being banned in all of Switzerland, and absinthe was banned in most European countries before the outbreak of World War I.

  94. 1903

    1. Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979) births

      1. Italian chemist

        Giulio Natta

        Giulio Natta was an Italian chemical engineer and Nobel laureate. He won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963 with Karl Ziegler for work on high polymers. He also received a Lomonosov Gold Medal in 1969.

      2. One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Chemistry

        The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on proposal of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry which consists of five members elected by the Academy. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.

    2. Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944) births

      1. British WWII Army general (1903-1944)

        Orde Wingate

        Major General Orde Charles Wingate, was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory during the Burma Campaign of the Second World War.

    3. Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818) deaths

      1. American inventor

        Richard Jordan Gatling

        Richard Jordan Gatling was an American inventor best known for his invention of the Gatling gun, which is considered to be the first successful machine gun.

      2. 1860s multi-barrel rapid-fire gun of Richard Gatling

        Gatling gun

        The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon.

  95. 1902

    1. Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (d. 1991) births

      1. French writer and illustrator

        Jean Bruller

        Jean Marcel Adolphe Bruller was a French writer and illustrator who co-founded the publishing company Les Éditions de Minuit with Pierre de Lescure. Born to a Hungarian-Jewish father, he joined the Resistance during the World War II occupation of northern France and his texts were published using the pseudonym Vercors.

      2. Les Éditions de Minuit

        Les Éditions de Minuit is a French publishing house. It was founded in 1941, during the French Resistance of World War II, and is still publishing books today.

  96. 1900

    1. Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (d. 1989) births

      1. Polish discus thrower

        Halina Konopacka

        Halina Konopacka was a Polish athlete. She won the discus throw event at the 1928 Summer Olympics, defeating American silver medal winner Lillian Copeland, breaking her own world record, and becoming the first Polish Olympic champion. After retiring from athletics she became a writer and poet. She immigrated to the United States after World War II, and died there.

    2. Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (d. 1988) births

      1. German free climber

        Fritz Wiessner

        Fritz Wiessner was a German American pioneer of free climbing. Born in Dresden, Germany, he immigrated to New York City in 1929 and became a U.S. citizen in 1935. In 1939, he made one of the earliest attempts to climb K2, one of the most difficult mountains in the world to climb.

  97. 1899

    1. Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1994) births

      1. Swiss politician

        Max Petitpierre

        Max Petitpierre was a Swiss politician, jurist and member of the Swiss Federal Council, heading the Political Department (1944-1961).

      2. List of presidents of the Swiss Confederation

        Below is a list of presidents of the Swiss Confederation (1848–present). It presents the presiding member of the Swiss Federal Council, the country's seven-member executive.

  98. 1896

    1. Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (d. 1948) births

      1. Soviet politician

        Andrei Zhdanov

        Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov was a Soviet politician and cultural ideologist. After World War II, Zhdanov was thought to be the successor-in-waiting to Joseph Stalin but died before him. He has been described as the "propagandist-in-chief" of the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1948.

  99. 1893

    1. Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934) births

      1. Founder of the Nation of Islam

        Wallace Fard Muhammad

        Wallace Dodd Fard, also known as Wallace Fard Muhammad or Master Fard Muhammad, was the founder of the Nation of Islam. He arrived in Detroit in 1930 with an obscure background and several aliases, and taught an idiosyncratic form of Islam to members of the city's black population. In 1934, he disappeared from public record, and Elijah Muhammad succeeded him as leader of the Nation of Islam.

      2. African American political and religious movement

        Nation of Islam

        The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African Americans. While it identifies itself as promoting a form of Islam, its beliefs differ considerably from mainstream Islamic traditions. Scholars of religion characterise it as a new religious movement. It operates as a centralized and hierarchical organization.

    2. Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (d. 1966) births

      1. English novelist and children's writer, 1893–1966

        Dorothy Whipple

        Dorothy Whipple was an English writer of popular fiction and children's books. Her work gained popularity between the world wars and again in the 2000s.

  100. 1889

    1. Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838) deaths

      1. Musical artist

        Karl Davydov

        Karl Yulievich Davydov was a Russian cellist of great renown during his time, and described by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the "czar of cellists". He was also a composer, mainly for the cello. His name also appears in various different spellings: Davydov, Davidoff, Davidov, and more, with his first name sometimes written as Charles or Carl.

  101. 1887

    1. Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (d. 1950) births

      1. American baseball player

        Grover Cleveland Alexander

        Grover Cleveland Alexander, nicknamed "Old Pete", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played from 1911 through 1930 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938.

    2. William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966) births

      1. American actor (1887–1966)

        William Frawley

        William Clement Frawley was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy series My Three Sons, and the political advisor to the judge character in the film Miracle on 34th Street.

    3. Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1936) births

      1. Polish writer (1887–1936)

        Stefan Grabiński

        Stefan Grabiński was a Polish writer of fantastic literature and horror stories. He is sometimes referred to as the "Polish Poe" or "Polish Lovecraft", although his works are often surrealistic or explicitly erotic in a way that sets him apart from both. He was an expert in parapsychology, magic and demonology and had an interest in the works of the German Expressionist filmmakers.

    4. Anandi Gopal Joshi, First Indian women physician (b. 1865) deaths

      1. One of the first female Indian doctors, alongside Kadambini Ganguly

        Anandi Gopal Joshi

        Dr. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first Indian female doctor of western medicine. She was the first woman from the erstwhile Bombay presidency of India to study and graduate with a two-year degree in western medicine in the United States. She was also referred to as Anandibai Joshi and Anandi Gopal Joshi.

  102. 1885

    1. Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (d. 1969) births

      1. Lithuanian politician

        Aleksandras Stulginskis

        Aleksandras Stulginskis [ɐlʲɛkˈsɐ̂ˑndrɐs stʊlʲˈɡʲɪ̂nʲsʲkʲɪs] (listen) was the second President of Lithuania (1920–1926). Stulginskis was also acting President of Lithuania for a few hours later in 1926, following a military coup that was led by his predecessor, President Antanas Smetona, and which had brought down Stulginskis's successor, Kazys Grinius. The coup returned Smetona to office after Stulginskis's brief formal assumption of the Presidency.

      2. Head of state of the Republic of Lithuania

        President of Lithuania

        The President of the Republic of Lithuania is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019.

  103. 1883

    1. Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek lawyer and politician, 56th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817) deaths

      1. Greek politician

        Alexandros Koumoundouros

        Alexandros Koumoundouros was a Greek politician. Born in Kampos, on the Messenian side of the Mani Peninsula, he was the son of Spyridon-Galanis Koumoundouros, the bey of the area during the last period of the administration of the region by the Ottoman Empire.

      2. Head of government of Greece

        Prime Minister of Greece

        The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic, colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece, is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek Cabinet. The incumbent prime minister is Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who took office on 8 July 2019 from Alexis Tsipras.

  104. 1882

    1. Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968) births

      1. US Navy admiral

        Husband E. Kimmel

        Husband Edward Kimmel was a United States Navy four-star admiral who was the commander in chief of the United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was removed from that command after the attack, in December 1941, and was reverted to his permanent two-star rank of rear admiral due to no longer holding a four-star assignment. He retired from the Navy in early 1942. The United States Senate voted to restore Kimmel's permanent rank to four stars in 1999, but President Clinton did not act on the resolution, and neither have any of his successors.

  105. 1881

    1. Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948) births

      1. Faroese poet

        Janus Djurhuus

        Jens Hendrik Oliver Djurhuus, called Janus Djurhuus, was the first modern Faroese poet. He and his younger brother Hans Andreas Djurhuus, also a poet, are called the Áarstova brothers after the house where they grew up.

  106. 1880

    1. Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972) births

      1. Irish army officer

        Kenneth Edgeworth

        Kenneth Essex Edgeworth was an Irish army officer, engineer, economist and independent theoretical astronomer. He was born in Street, County Westmeath. Edgeworth is best known for proposing the existence of a disc of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune in the 1930s. Observations later confirmed the existence of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt in 1992. Those distant solar system bodies, including Pluto, Eris and Makemake, are now grouped into the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, or Kuiper belt.

  107. 1879

    1. Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (d. 1941) births

      1. English composer and violist (1879–1941)

        Frank Bridge

        Frank Bridge was an English composer, violist and conductor.

  108. 1877

    1. Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959) births

      1. Australian politician

        Henry Barwell

        Sir Henry Newman Barwell KCMG was the 28th premier of South Australia.

      2. Premier of South Australia

        The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is appointed by the governor of South Australia, and by modern convention holds office by virtue of his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the House of Assembly.

    2. Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968) births

      1. American cartoonist

        Rudolph Dirks

        Rudolph Dirks was one of the earliest and most noted comic strip artists, well known for The Katzenjammer Kids.

  109. 1869

    1. Afzal-ud-Daulah, Asaf Jah V, 5th Nizam of Hyderabad State deaths

      1. 5th Nizam of Hyderabad, India, from 1857 to 1869

        Afzal-ud-Daulah

        Afzal ad-Dawlah, Asaf Jah V Mir Tahniyath Ali Khan Siddiqi was the ruling Nizam of Hyderabad, India, from 1857 to 1869.

      2. Historic monarch of the Hyderabad State of India

        Nizam of Hyderabad

        The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State. Nizam, shortened from Nizam-ul-Mulk, meaning Administrator of the Realm, was the title inherited by Asaf Jah I. He was the former Naib (suzerain) of the Great Mughal in the Deccan, the premier courtier of Mughal India until 1724, the founding of an independent monarchy as the "Nizam (title) of Hyderabad".

      3. Princely state (1724–1948 in South India)

        Hyderabad State

        Hyderabad State was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the Marathwada region of Maharashtra in India.

  110. 1866

    1. Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930) births

      1. Canadian American chemical industrialist (1866–1930)

        Herbert Henry Dow

        Herbert Henry Dow was a Canadian-born American chemical industrialist who founded the American multinational conglomerate Dow Chemical. He was a graduate of Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a prolific inventor of chemical processes, compounds, and products, and was a successful businessman.

      2. American chemical company

        Dow Chemical Company

        The Dow Chemical Company (TDCC) is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States and is a subsidiary of Dow Inc. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world.

  111. 1864

    1. Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian jurist and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada East (b. 1807) deaths

      1. Canadian politician

        Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

        Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard dit La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible government in Canada. He was born in Boucherville, Lower Canada in 1807. A jurist and statesman, La Fontaine was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in 1830. He was a supporter of Papineau and member of the Parti canadien. After the severe consequences of the Rebellions of 1837 against the British authorities, he advocated political reforms within the new Union regime of 1841.

      2. List of joint premiers of the Province of Canada

        This is a list of the joint premiers of the Province of Canada, who were the heads of government of the Province of Canada from the 1841 unification of Upper Canada and Lower Canada until Confederation in 1867.

  112. 1861

    1. Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1948) births

      1. Tsar of Bulgaria

        Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

        Ferdinand , born Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the second monarch of the Third Bulgarian State, firstly as ruling prince (knyaz) from 1887 to 1908, and later as king (tsar) from 1908 until his abdication in 1918. Under his rule Bulgaria entered the First World War on the side of the Central Powers in 1915.

    2. Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939) births

      1. 19th and 20th-century Russian revolutionary and politician

        Nadezhda Krupskaya

        Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya was a Russian revolutionary and the wife of Vladimir Lenin.

  113. 1857

    1. Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (d. 1926) births

      1. French psychologist and pharmacist

        Émile Coué

        Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie was a French psychologist and pharmacist who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy and self-improvement based on optimistic autosuggestion.

  114. 1852

    1. John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943) births

      1. American physician, inventor, and businessman (1852–1943)

        John Harvey Kellogg

        John Harvey Kellogg was an American medical doctor, nutritionist, inventor, health activist, eugenicist, and businessman. He was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. The sanitarium was founded by members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. It combined aspects of a European spa, a hydrotherapy institution, a hospital and high-class hotel. Kellogg treated the rich and famous, as well as the poor who could not afford other hospitals. Several popular misconceptions falsely attribute various cultural practices, inventions, and historical events to Kellogg.

      2. Type of breakfast cereal

        Corn flakes

        Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). The cereal, originally made with wheat, was created by Will Kellogg in 1894 for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked with his brother John Kellogg who was the superintendent. The breakfast cereal proved popular among the patients and Kellogg subsequently started what became the Kellogg Company to produce corn flakes for the wider public. A patent for the process was granted in 1896, after a legal battle between the two brothers.

  115. 1846

    1. Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917) births

      1. American frontiersman and showman (1846–1917)

        Buffalo Bill

        William Frederick Cody, known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory, but he lived for several years in his father's hometown in modern-day Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, before the family returned to the Midwest and settled in the Kansas Territory.

  116. 1842

    1. Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (d. 1925) births

      1. French astronomer and author (1842–1925)

        Camille Flammarion

        Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction novels, and works on psychical research and related topics. He also published the magazine L'Astronomie, starting in 1882. He maintained a private observatory at Juvisy-sur-Orge, France.

  117. 1839

    1. Sybil Ludington, American figure of the American Revolutionary War (b. 1761) deaths

      1. 18th and 19th-century American revolutionary heroine

        Sybil Ludington

        Sybil Ludington is recognized as a heroine of the American Revolutionary War; the accuracy of these accounts is questioned by modern scholars. On April 26, 1777, the 16-year-old daughter of a colonel in the Colonial militia, Henry Ludington, is said to have made an all-night horseback ride 40 miles (64 km) to rally militia forces in neighboring towns after the burning of Danbury, Connecticut by British forces.

  118. 1829

    1. Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902) births

      1. German-American businessman (1829–1902)

        Levi Strauss

        Levi Strauss was a German-born American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi's) began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.

      2. American clothing company

        Levi Strauss & Co.

        Levi Strauss & Co. is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business. Although the corporation is registered in Delaware, the company's corporate headquarters is located in Levi's Plaza in San Francisco.

  119. 1821

    1. Joseph de Maistre, French lawyer and diplomat (b. 1753) deaths

      1. Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat (1753–1821)

        Joseph de Maistre

        Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat who advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immediately following the French Revolution. Despite his close personal and intellectual ties with France, Maistre was throughout his life a subject of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which he served as a member of the Savoy Senate (1787–1792), ambassador to Russia (1803–1817), and minister of state to the court in Turin (1817–1821).

  120. 1815

    1. Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1737) deaths

      1. 18th-century Austrian nobleman and military general

        Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

        Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was an Austrian nobleman and military general.

  121. 1813

    1. Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs (b. 1746) deaths

      1. American lawyer, politician, diplomat and Founding Father (1746–1813)

        Robert R. Livingston

        Robert Robert Livingston was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from New York, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor", after the high New York state legal office he held for 25 years. He was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Roger Sherman. Livingston administered the oath of office to George Washington when he assumed the presidency April 30, 1789. Livingston was also elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1801.

      2. List of secretaries of state of the United States

        This is a list of secretaries of state of the United States.

  122. 1808

    1. Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879) births

      1. French artist (1808–1879)

        Honoré Daumier

        Honoré-Victorin Daumier was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second Napoleonic Empire in 1870. He earned a living throughout most of his life producing caricatures and cartoons of political figures and satirizing the behavior of his countrymen in newspapers and periodicals, for which he became well known in his lifetime and is still known today. He was a republican democrat who attacked the bourgeoisie, the church, lawyers and the judiciary, politicians, and the monarchy. He was jailed for several months in 1832 after the publication of Gargantua, a particularly offensive and discourteous depiction of King Louis-Philippe. Daumier was also a serious painter, loosely associated with realism.

    2. Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871) births

      1. American architect

        Nathan Kelley

        Nathan B. Kelley was an American architect and builder. He was a prolific architect whose designs dominated the cityscape of Columbus, Ohio at the middle of the 19th century.

      2. State capitol building of the U.S. state of Ohio

        Ohio Statehouse

        The Ohio Statehouse is the state capitol building and seat of government for the U.S. state of Ohio. The Greek Revival building is located on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus. The capitol houses the Ohio General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. It also contains the ceremonial offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, state treasurer, and state auditor. Built between 1839 and 1861, it is one of the oldest working statehouses in the United States. The statehouse grounds include two other buildings, the Judiciary Annex or Senate Building, and the Atrium; the three are collectively referred to as the Ohio Statehouse into the present day.

  123. 1806

    1. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Haitian-French general (b. 1762) deaths

      1. French general (1762–1806)

        Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

        Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a Dominican Creole general in Revolutionary France. Along with his French contemporary Joseph Serrant, Toussaint Louverture in Saint-Domingue and Abram Petrovich Gannibal in Imperial Russia, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas is notable as a man of African descent leading European troops as a general officer. He was the first person of color in the French military to become brigadier general, divisional general, and general-in-chief of a French army.

  124. 1802

    1. Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885) births

      1. French novelist, poet, and dramatist (1802–1885)

        Victor Hugo

        Victor-Marie Hugo was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the greatest French writers of all time.

    2. Esek Hopkins, American admiral (b. 1718) deaths

      1. American naval officer, merchant captain, and privateer

        Esek Hopkins

        Esek Hopkins was an American naval officer, merchant captain, and privateer. Achieving the rank of Commodore, Hopkins was the only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He is noted for his successful raid on the British port of Providence, in the Bahamas, and capturing large stores of military supplies. His legacy today has become controversial for his involvement in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

  125. 1790

    1. Joshua Rowley, English admiral (b. 1730) deaths

      1. British admiral

        Joshua Rowley

        Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, 1st Baronet was a Royal Navy officer who was the fourth son of Admiral Sir William Rowley. Sir Joshua was from an ancient English family, originating in Staffordshire (England) and was born on 1 May 1734. Rowley served with distinction in a number of battles throughout his career and was highly praised by his contemporaries. Unfortunately whilst his career was often active he did not have the opportunity to command any significant engagements and always followed rather than led. His achievements have therefore been eclipsed by his contemporaries such as Keppel, Hawke, Howe and Rodney. Rowley however remains one of the stalwart commanders of the wooden walls that kept Britain safe for so long.

  126. 1786

    1. François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (d. 1853) births

      1. 18/19th-century French physicist, astonomer, and mathematician

        François Arago

        Dominique François Jean Arago, known simply as François Arago, was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of the Carbonari revolutionaries and politician.

      2. Head of Government of France

        Prime Minister of France

        The prime minister of France, officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers.

  127. 1777

    1. Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 1854) births

      1. Matija Nenadović

        Matija Nenadović, also known as Prota Mateja, was a Serbian archpriest, writer, and politician who served as the first prime minister of Serbia from 1805 to 1807. He was a notable leader in the First Serbian Uprising.

      2. Head of Government of Serbia

        Prime Minister of Serbia

        The prime minister of Serbia, officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia is the principal executive minister of the Government of Serbia. The prime minister directs the work of the government, and submits to the National Assembly the government's program, including a list of proposed ministers. The resignation of the prime minister results in the dismissal of the government.

  128. 1770

    1. Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836) births

      1. Czech-born French composer

        Anton Reicha

        Anton Joseph Reicha (Rejcha) was a Czech-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalized French composer and music theorist. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, he is now best remembered for his substantial early contributions to the wind quintet literature and his role as teacher of pupils including Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz and César Franck. He was also an accomplished theorist, and wrote several treatises on various aspects of composition. Some of his theoretical work dealt with experimental methods of composition, which he applied in a variety of works such as fugues and études for piano and string quartet.

    2. Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1692) deaths

      1. Italian composer and violinist (1692–1770)

        Giuseppe Tartini

        Giuseppe Tartini was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era born in the Republic of Venice. Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred of pieces for the violin with the majority of them being violin concertos. However, today, he is most famously remembered for his Violin Sonata in G Minor.

  129. 1746

    1. Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (d. 1804) births

      1. Duchess consort of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla

        Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma

        Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma was Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla by marriage to Ferdinand, Duke of Parma. She was born an archduchess of Austria as the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I.

  130. 1729

    1. Anders Chydenius, Finnish economist, philosopher and Lutheran priest (d. 1803) births

      1. Swedish politician (1729–1803)

        Anders Chydenius

        Anders Chydenius was a Swedish-Finnish Lutheran priest and a member of the Swedish Riksdag, and is known as the leading classical liberal of Nordic history.

  131. 1726

    1. Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662) deaths

      1. Ruler of the Electorate of Bavaria from 1679 to 1726

        Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria

        Maximilian II, also known as Max Emanuel or Maximilian Emanuel, was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the last governor of the Spanish Netherlands and Duke of Luxembourg. An able soldier, his ambition led to conflicts that limited his ultimate dynastic achievements.

  132. 1723

    1. Thomas d'Urfey, English poet and playwright (b. 1653) deaths

      1. 17th/18th-century English writer

        Thomas d'Urfey

        Thomas d'Urfey was an English writer and wit. He wrote plays, songs, jokes, and poems. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the ballad opera.

  133. 1720

    1. Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803) births

      1. Gian Francesco Albani

        Gian Francesco Albani was a Roman Catholic Cardinal. He was a member of the Albani family.

  134. 1718

    1. Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773) births

      1. Johan Ernst Gunnerus

        Johan Ernst Gunnerus was a Norwegian bishop and botanist. Gunnerus was born at Christiania. He was bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros from 1758 until his death and also a professor of theology at the University of Copenhagen.

  135. 1677

    1. Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745) births

      1. Italian composer

        Nicola Fago

        Francesco Nicola Fago, 'II Tarantino' was an Italian Baroque composer and teacher. He was the father of Lorenzo Fago (1704-1793).

  136. 1672

    1. Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (d. 1757) births

      1. French historian

        Antoine Augustin Calmet

        Antoine Augustin Calmet, O.S.B., a French Benedictine monk, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne, then in the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire.

  137. 1671

    1. Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (d. 1713) births

      1. English politician, philosopher and writer (1671–1713)

        Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury

        Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury was an English politician, philosopher, and writer.

  138. 1651

    1. Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (d. 1689) births

      1. German Baroque poet and mystic (1651-1689)

        Quirinus Kuhlmann

        Quirinus Kuhlmann was a German Baroque poet and mystic. Kuhlmann insisted upon the importance of the events of his life as confirmation of his divine mission.

  139. 1638

    1. Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician and linguist (b. 1581) deaths

      1. French mathematician

        Claude Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac

        Claude Gaspar Bachet Sieur de Méziriac was a French mathematician and poet born in Bourg-en-Bresse, at that time belonging to Duchy of Savoy. He wrote Problèmes plaisans et délectables qui se font par les nombres, Les éléments arithmétiques, and a Latin translation of the Arithmetica of Diophantus. He also discovered means of solving indeterminate equations using continued fractions, a method of constructing magic squares, and a proof of Bézout's identity.

  140. 1630

    1. William Brade, English violinist and composer (b. 1560) deaths

      1. English composer (1560–1630)

        William Brade

        William Brade was an English composer, violinist, and viol player of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, mainly active in northern Germany. He was the first Englishman to write a canzona, an Italian form, and probably the first to write a piece for solo violin.

  141. 1629

    1. Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer (d. 1685) births

      1. 17th-century Scottish politician and nobleman

        Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll

        Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish peer and soldier.

  142. 1625

    1. Anna Vasa of Sweden, Polish and Swedish princess (b. 1568) deaths

      1. Anna Vasa of Sweden

        Anna Vasa of Sweden was a Polish and Swedish princess, starosta of Brodnica and Golub. She was the youngest child of King John III of Sweden and Catherine Jagiellon. She was close to her brother Sigismund Vasa, King of Poland (1587–1632) and King of Sweden (1592–99). Raised a Catholic, Anna converted to Lutheranism in 1584 which made her an ineligible bride for many of Europe's Catholic royals and she remained unmarried.

  143. 1611

    1. Antonio Possevino, Italian priest and diplomat (b. 1533) deaths

      1. Jesuit controversialist, encyclopedist and bibliographer

        Antonio Possevino

        Antonio Possevino was a Jesuit protagonist of Counter Reformation as a papal diplomat and a Jesuit controversialist, encyclopedist and bibliographer. He was the first Jesuit to visit Muscovy, Sweden, Denmark, Livonia, Hungary, Pomerania, and Saxony in amply documented papal missions between 1578 and 1586 where he championed the enterprising policies of Pope Gregory XIII.

  144. 1608

    1. John Still, English bishop (b. 1543) deaths

      1. Church of England bishop

        John Still

        John Still was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an early English comedy drama, Gammer Gurton's Needle.

  145. 1603

    1. Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, spouse of Maximilian II (b. 1528) deaths

      1. 16th century Holy Roman empress and Infanta of Spain

        Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress

        Archduchess Maria of Austria was the empress consort and queen consort of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary. She served as regent of Spain in the absence of her father Emperor Charles V from 1548 until 1551 and was one of the most powerful Empresses of the Holy Roman Empire.

  146. 1587

    1. Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639) births

      1. Italian composer

        Stefano Landi

        Stefano Landi was an Italian composer and teacher of the early Baroque Roman School. He was an influential early composer of opera, and wrote the earliest opera on a historical subject: Il Sant'Alessio (1632).

  147. 1584

    1. Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1666) births

      1. Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria

        Albert VI of Bavaria son of William V, Duke of Bavaria and Renata of Lorraine, born and died in Munich.

  148. 1577

    1. Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533) deaths

      1. King of Sweden from 1560 to 1569

        Eric XIV of Sweden

        Eric XIV was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1569. Eric XIV was the eldest son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535). He was also ruler of Estonia, after its conquest by Sweden in 1561.

  149. 1564

    1. Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593) births

      1. 16th-century English dramatist, poet and translator

        Christopher Marlowe

        Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the "many imitations" of his play Tamburlaine, modern scholars consider him to have been the foremost dramatist in London in the years just before his mysterious early death. Some scholars also believe that he greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was baptised in the same year as Marlowe and later succeeded him as the pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright. Marlowe was the first to achieve critical reputation for his use of blank verse, which became the standard for the era. His plays are distinguished by their overreaching protagonists. Themes found within Marlowe's literary works have been noted as humanistic with realistic emotions, which some scholars find difficult to reconcile with Marlowe's "anti-intellectualism" and his catering to the prurient tastes of his Elizabethan audiences for generous displays of extreme physical violence, cruelty, and bloodshed.

  150. 1548

    1. Lorenzino de' Medici, Italian writer and assassin (b. 1514) deaths

      1. Italian politician and writer

        Lorenzino de' Medici

        Lorenzino de' Medici, also known as Lorenzaccio, was an Italian politician, writer, and dramatist, and a member of the Medici family. He became famous for assassinating his cousin, Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence in 1537. He was in turn murdered in 1548 in retaliation for his deed.

  151. 1462

    1. John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English politician (b. 1408) deaths

      1. 15th century English noble

        John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford

        John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, was the son of Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, and his second wife, Alice Sergeaux (1386–1452). A Lancastrian loyalist during the latter part of his life, he was convicted of high treason and executed on Tower Hill on 26 February 1462.

  152. 1416

    1. Christopher of Bavaria (d. 1448) births

      1. King of Denmark

        Christopher of Bavaria

        Christopher of Bavaria was King of Denmark, Sweden (1441–48) and Norway (1442–48) during the era of the Kalmar Union.

  153. 1361

    1. Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. 1419) births

      1. 14th/15th-century King of Bohemia and Germany

        Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia

        Wenceslaus IV, also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he was deposed in 1400. As he belonged to the House of Luxembourg, he was also Duke of Luxembourg from 1383 to 1388.

  154. 1360

    1. Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander (b. 1328) deaths

      1. 14th-century English noble and soldier

        Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March

        Sir Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, 4th Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, KG was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War.

  155. 1349

    1. Fatima bint al-Ahmar, Nasrid princess in the Emirate of Granada (b. c.1260) deaths

      1. Nasrid Princess

        Fatima bint al-Ahmar

        Fatima bint Muhammad bint al-Ahmar was a Nasrid princess of the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula. A daughter of Sultan Muhammad II and an expert in the study of barnamaj, she married her father's cousin and trusted ally, Abu Said Faraj. Their son Ismail I became sultan after deposing her half-brother, Nasr. She was involved in the government of her son but was especially politically active during the rule of her grandsons, Muhammad IV and Yusuf I, both of whom ascended the throne at a young age and were placed under her tutelage. Later Granadan historian Ibn al-Khatib wrote an elegy for her death stating that "She was alone, surpassing the women of her time / like the Night of Power surpasses all the other nights". Modern historian María Jesús Rubiera Mata compared her role to that of María de Molina, her contemporary who became regent to Castilian kings. Professor Brian A. Catlos attributed the survival of the dynasty, and eventual success, as being partly due to her "vision and constancy."

  156. 1275

    1. Margaret of England, Queen consort of Scots (b. 1240) deaths

      1. 13th-century English princess and Queen of Scotland

        Margaret of England

        Margaret of England was Queen of Scots by marriage to King Alexander III.

  157. 1266

    1. Manfred, King of Sicily (b. 1232) deaths

      1. King of Sicily from 1258 to 1266

        Manfred, King of Sicily

        Manfred was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the kingdom of Sicily on behalf of his nephew Conradin in 1254. As regent he subdued rebellions in the kingdom, until in 1258 he usurped Conradin's rule. After an initial attempt to appease Pope Innocent IV he took up the ongoing conflict between the Hohenstaufens and the papacy through combat and political alliances. He defeated the papal army at Foggia on 2 December 1254. Excommunicated by three successive popes, Manfred was the target of a Crusade (1255–66) called first by Pope Alexander IV and then by Urban IV. Nothing came of Alexander's call, but Urban enlisted the aid of Charles of Anjou in overthrowing Manfred. Manfred was killed during his defeat by Charles at the Battle of Benevento, and Charles assumed kingship of Sicily.

  158. 1154

    1. Roger II of Sicily (b. 1095) deaths

      1. King of Sicily from 1130 to 1154

        Roger II of Sicily

        Roger II was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in 1127, then King of Sicily in 1130 and King of Africa in 1148. By the time of his death at the age of 58, Roger had succeeded in uniting all the Norman conquests in Italy into one kingdom with a strong centralized government.

  159. 943

    1. Muirchertach mac Néill, king of Ailech (Ireland) deaths

      1. Muirchertach mac Néill

        Muirchertach mac Néill, called Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks, was a King of Ailech.

      2. Name given to several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland

        Northern Uí Néill

        The Northern Uí Néill is any of several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland that claimed descent from a common ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Other dynasties in central and eastern Ireland who also claimed descent from Niall were termed the Southern Uí Néill. The dynasties of the Northern Uí Néill were the Cenél Conaill and Cenél nEógain, named after supposed sons of Niall: Conall and Eógain.

      3. Island in the North Atlantic Ocean

        Ireland

        Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

  160. 420

    1. Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347) deaths

      1. Calendar year

        AD 420

        Year 420 (CDXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Constantius. The denomination 420 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

      2. Saint born during the Byzantine Empire

        Saint Porphyrius

        Saint Porphyrius was bishop of Gaza from 395 to 420, known, from the account in his Life, for Christianizing the recalcitrant pagan city of Gaza, and demolishing its temples.

Holidays

  1. Christian feast day: Alexander of Alexandria

    1. Head of the Coptic Church from 312 to 328

      Pope Alexander I of Alexandria

      Alexander I of Alexandria was the 19th Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria. During his patriarchate, he dealt with a number of issues facing the Church in that day. These included the dating of Easter, the actions of Meletius of Lycopolis, and the issue of greatest substance, Arianism. He was the leader of the opposition to Arianism at the First Council of Nicaea. He also mentored his successor, Athanasius of Alexandria, who would become one of the Church Fathers.

  2. Christian feast day: Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))

    1. Emily Malbone Morgan

      Emily Malbone Morgan was a prominent social and religious leader in the Episcopal Church in the United States who helped found the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross as well as the Colonel Daniel Putnam Association.

    2. Anglican denomination in the United States

      Episcopal Church (United States)

      The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, the first African-American bishop to serve in that position.

  3. Christian feast day: Isabelle of France

    1. French Roman Catholic saint

      Saint Isabelle of France

      Isabelle of France was a French princess, the daughter of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile. She was a younger sister of King Louis IX of France and of Alfonso, Count of Poitiers, and an older sister of King Charles I of Sicily. In 1256, she founded the nunnery of Longchamp in part of the Forest of Rouvray, west of Paris. Isabelle consecrated her virginity and her entire life to God alone. She is honored as a saint by the Franciscan Order. Her feast day is 22 February.

  4. Christian feast day: Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)

    1. Canadian Anglican priest

      Florence Li Tim-Oi

      Florence Li Tim-Oi was the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion, on 25 January 1944.

    2. Calendar of saints (Anglican Church of Canada)

      Prior to the revision of the Anglican Church of Canada's (ACC) Book of Common Prayer (BCP) in 1962, the national church followed the liturgical calendar of the 1918 Canadian Book of Common Prayer. Throughout most of the twentieth century, the situation in Canada resembled that which pertained in much of the Anglican Communion: There was uncertainty as to whether post-Reformation figures could or should be commemorated. In the words of the calendar's introduction, "New names have been added from the ancient calendars, and also from the history of the Anglican Communion, without thereby enrolling or commending such persons as saints of the Church." The 1962 revision added twenty-six post-Reformation individuals, as well as commemorations of the first General Synod and of "The Founders, Benefactors, and Missionaries of the Church in Canada." Of the calendar days, twenty-eight were highlighted as "red-letter days" — that is, days of required observation.

  5. Christian feast day: Porphyry of Gaza

    1. Saint born during the Byzantine Empire

      Saint Porphyrius

      Saint Porphyrius was bishop of Gaza from 395 to 420, known, from the account in his Life, for Christianizing the recalcitrant pagan city of Gaza, and demolishing its temples.

  6. Christian feast day: February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

    1. February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

      February 25 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - February 27

  7. Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)

    1. 1992 mass killing of Azerbaijanis during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War

      Khojaly massacre

      The Khojaly massacre was the mass killing of Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian forces and the 366th CIS regiment in the town of Khojaly on 26 February 1992. The event became the largest single massacre throughout the entire Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

    2. Country straddling Western Asia and Eastern Europe in the Caucusus

      Azerbaijan

      Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region, and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. Baku is the capital and largest city.

  8. Liberation Day (Kuwait)

    1. Public holidays in Kuwait

  9. Saviours' Day (Nation of Islam)

    1. Holiday in Nation of Islam

      Saviours' Day

      Saviours' Day is a holiday of the Nation of Islam commemorating the birth of its founder, Master Wallace Fard Muhammad, officially stated to be February 26, 1877. It was established by Elijah Muhammad.

    2. African American political and religious movement

      Nation of Islam

      The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African Americans. While it identifies itself as promoting a form of Islam, its beliefs differ considerably from mainstream Islamic traditions. Scholars of religion characterise it as a new religious movement. It operates as a centralized and hierarchical organization.